Top 100 Law Schools in America for 2010
Here is the rankings list of the 2010 top 100 law schools in the United States of America. Whether you’re looking for the top 10, top 50, or top 100 in Tier 1 law schools they’re all in the list below. The rankings are structured like this:
(Ranking) (Name of University)
(Location)
(2008-2009 Tuition)
(Total Full-Time Student Enrollment in Fall of 2008)
If we’re looking at Yale University, for example:
1 Yale University
New Haven, CT
Full-time: $46,000 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 588
Then this means that Yale is ranked #1 in the United States, located in New Haven, CT, had a 2008-2009 tuition of $46,000 per year and has a total full-time student enrollment of 588.
Any comments, questions, or opinions make sure to leave a comment at the end!
1 Yale University
New Haven, CT
Full-time: $46,000 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 588
2 Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Full-time: $41,500 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment:1,730
3 Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Full-time: $42,080 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 539
4 Columbia University
New York, NY
Full-time: $45,674 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,266
5 New York University
New York, NY
Full-time: $42,890 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,423
6 University of California–Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
In-state, full-time: $30,944 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $43,189 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 865
6 University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Full-time: $41,835 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 593
8 University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Full-time: $44,330 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 786
9 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
In-state, full-time: $41,500 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $44,500 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,151
10 Duke University
Durham, NC
Full-time: $42,938 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 611
10 Northwestern University
Chicago, IL
Full-time: $45,332 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 779
10 University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
In-state, full-time: $36,800 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $41,800 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,155
13 Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
Full-time: $46,670 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 591
14 Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Full-time: $42,065 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,631
15 University of California–Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
In-state, full-time: $31,103 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $41,624 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,012
15 University of Texas–Austin
Austin, TX
In-state, full-time: $23,427 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $38,697 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,233
17 Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Full-time: $42,206 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 578
18 University of Southern California (Gould)
Los Angeles, CA
Full-time: $44,510 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 605
19 Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
Full-time: $40,436 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 831
20 Boston University
Boston, MA
Full-time: $38,266 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 822
20 Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Full-time: $39,776 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 697
20 University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
In-state, full-time: $24,686 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $35,089 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 780
23 Indiana University–Bloomington (Maurer)
Bloomington, IN
In-state, full-time: $19,988 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $37,373 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 612
23 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
In-state, full-time: $31,262 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $39,262 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 587
23 University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Full-time: $37,650 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 558
26 Boston College
Newton, MA
Full-time: $38,450 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 799
26 University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
In-state, full-time: $17,916 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $34,684 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 616
28 College of William and Mary (Marshall-Wythe)
Williamsburg, VA
In-state, full-time: $20,146 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $30,346 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 626
28 George Washington University
Washington, DC
Full-time: $40,100 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,398
30 Fordham University
New York, NY
Full-time: $42,076 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,229
30 University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
In-state, full-time: $12,564 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $24,158 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 481
30 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
In-state, full-time: $15,045 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $27,867 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 735
30 University of Washington
Seattle, WA
In-state, full-time: $19,585 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $28,809 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 534
30 Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA
Full-time: $36,297 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 391
35 Ohio State University (Moritz)
Columbus, OH
In-state, full-time: $20,919 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $35,869 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 670
35 University of California–Davis
Davis, CA
In-state, full-time: $28,511 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $40,756 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 578
35 University of Georgia
Athens, GA
In-state, full-time: $13,090 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $29,940 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 660
35 University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, WI
In-state, full-time: $14,730 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $34,654 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 788
39 University of California (Hastings)
San Francisco, CA
In-state, full-time: $28,864 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $40,089 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,244
40 Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC
Full-time: $33,950 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 463
41 Brigham Young University (Clark)
Provo, UT
Full-time: $18,480 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 458
41 George Mason University
Arlington, VA
In-state, full-time: $18,732 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $31,948 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 454
43 University of Arizona (Rogers)
Tucson, AZ
In-state, full-time: $19,584 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $32,221 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 469
43 University of Maryland
Baltimore, MD
In-state, full-time: $22,044 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $33,323 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 714
45 American University (Washington)
Washington, DC
Full-time: $39,402 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,235
45 Tulane University
New Orleans, LA
Full-time: $38,724 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 746
45 University of Colorado–Boulder
Boulder, CO
In-state, full-time: $22,048 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $32,560 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 520
45 University of Utah (Quinney)
Salt Lake City, UT
In-state, full-time: $13,371 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $28,593 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 385
49 Southern Methodist University (Dedman)
Dallas, TX
Full-time: $36,546 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 527
49 Yeshiva University (Cardozo)
New York, NY
Full-time: $42,570 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 975
51 University of Florida (Levin)
Gainesville, FL
In-state, full-time: $12,339 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $31,704 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,224
52 Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
In-state, full-time: $12,352 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $32,364 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 771
52 University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
In-state, full-time: $19,362 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $33,764 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 361
52 University of Connecticut
Hartford, CT
In-state, full-time: $18,480 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $38,976 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 479
55 Arizona State University (O’Connor)
Tempe, AZ
In-state, full-time: $16,294 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $28,858 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 539
55 Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH
Full-time: $36,674 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 624
55 Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA
Full-time: $37,590 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 640
55 University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
In-state, full-time: $15,258 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $26,436 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 395
59 University of Houston
Houston, TX
In-state, full-time: $18,447 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $25,977 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 748
59 University of Tennessee–Knoxville
Knoxville, TN
In-state, full-time: $12,084 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $29,304 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 468
61 Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY
Full-time: $42,375 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,211
61 Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern)
Portland, OR
Full-time: $30,436 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 523
61 University of San Diego
San Diego, CA
Full-time: $39,204 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 795
61 Villanova University
Villanova, PA
Full-time: $33,490 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 744
65 Baylor University (Umphrey)
Waco, TX
Full-time: $36,080 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 418
65 Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA
In-state, full-time: $10,674 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $30,330 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 472
65 Pennsylvania State University (Dickinson)
University Park, PA
In-state, full-time: $31,942 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $31,942 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 547
65 Temple University (Beasley)
Philadelphia, PA
In-state, full-time: $16,758 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $28,702 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 773
65 University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
In-state, full-time: $15,033 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $26,376 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 489
65 University of Missouri
Columbia, MO
In-state, full-time: $15,984 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $30,486 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 448
71 Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA
Full-time: $38,450 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 992
71 University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Full-time: $36,594 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 1,205
71 University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK
In-state, full-time: $16,766 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $26,695 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 517
71 University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
In-state, full-time: $24,162 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $32,306 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 698
75 Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge (Hebert)
Baton Rouge, LA
In-state, full-time: $13,143 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $23,239 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 565
75 University of Nevada–Las Vegas (Boyd)
Las Vegas, NV
In-state, full-time: $11,032 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $21,332 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 371
77 Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent)
Chicago, IL
Full-time: $35,741 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 705
77 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–Camden
Camden, NJ
In-state, full-time: $23,191 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $33,385 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 545
77 Seattle University
Seattle, WA
Full-time: $33,784 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 812
77 Seton Hall University
Newark, NJ
Full-time: $41,160 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 717
77 University of Denver (Sturm)
Denver, CO
Full-time: $33,780 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 839
77 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
In-state, full-time: $11,593 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $25,693 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 346
77 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR
In-state, full-time: $20,570 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $25,610 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 531
77 University of Richmond (Williams)
Richmond, VA
Full-time: $31,510 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 477
85 Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Full-time: $1,225 per credit
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 732
85 University at Buffalo–SUNY
Buffalo, NY
In-state, full-time: $14,685 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $21,485 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 739
87 DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Full-time: $35,500 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 909
87 Indiana University–Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
In-state, full-time: $19,473 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $38,911 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 638
87 Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL
Full-time: $35,334 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 638
87 Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Full-time: $31,020 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 563
87 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–Newark
Newark, NJ
In-state, full-time: $23,007 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $32,777 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 582
87 St. John’s University
Jamaica, NY
Full-time: $40,600 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 719
87 University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
In-state, full-time: $17,718 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $35,490 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 682
94 Catholic University of America (Columbus)
Washington, DC
Full-time: $36,400 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 592
94 Northeastern University
Boston, MA
Full-time: $38,514 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 615
94 St. Louis University
St. Louis, MO
Full-time: $33,382 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 784
94 University of Arkansas–Fayetteville
Fayetteville, AR
In-state, full-time: $357 per credit, Out-of-state, full-time: $712 per credit
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 403
98 University of Louisville (Brandeis)
Louisville, KY
In-state, full-time: $13,744 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $28,292 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 351
98 University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Full-time: $35,880 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 521
100 Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA
Full-time: $30,263 per year
Total Full-Time Student Enrollment: 545
How the Changing Legal Landscape Will Affect Legal Education
As the fall progresses, many law students and law school administers will be trying to assess the direction of three market trends: (1) the number or percentage of summer associates who receive offers of permanent employment; (2) the prevalence of deferrals among those lucky enough to be offered jobs; and (3) the volume of summer offers coming out of this year’s OCI process. Nobody expects cheery numbers. But as the market information comes in over the next few months, law schools will be in a better position to assess the new landscape.
In a nutshell, here is the issue: Since the last major legal recession of the early 1990s, elite law schools adapted their business model to the seeming certainty of virtually guaranteed high paying jobs for their graduates. This meant increasing tuition, hiring more faculty, reducing teaching loads, and generally loading more debt onto students. For at least the last 15 years, the sizzling corporate legal market made this high-cost model financially viable, even though the only thing these models maximized (or strongly incentivized) was faculty scholarship. Because corporate counsel are fundamentally changing how they value and buy outside legal services, there may not be enough high-paying entry level jobs to support the very high cost of legal education, even at elite schools.
Yet, unbelievably, due to the weighting of per pupil direct expenditures, schools with higher cost structures generally fare better in the US News rankings. Among elite schools, direct expense (financed with high tuition, high student debt, and large endowments) is the input that keeps the elite schools at the top of the pecking order — Yale’s is three times the average, and Harvard, Stanford, NYU, and Columbia are more than double. Of course, less elite law schools wishing to become more elite–i.e., pretty much every school with a few exceptions– have tried to keep up by modeling themselves after elite schools, including a “scholarship-first” strategy. Thus, the cost structure at virtually all law schools has climbed far in excess of the earning capacity of the median law school graduate. See Morriss & Henderson, The New Math of Legal Education, ABA Young Lawyer (July 2008). Yet, due to deficiencies in (a) information, and (b) how information is analyzed, the status quo rolls on.
I can think of at least four reasons for these information inefficiencies.
- Naivete. The modal student entering law school is not homo economicus. Rather, he or she is young, inexperienced, and overly impressed with branding–largely through US News–and the opinions of peers. IQ does not shield the young from overconfidence and the reflexive desire to impress others through the acquisition of positional goods. Indeed, sometimes intelligence in the absence of commonsense can make matters worse.
- Poorly Priced Credit. Banks have lent students funds without a sharp eye to repayment risk. The terms of loans are largely the same regardless of law school attended, geographic market conditions, and law school performance. Yes, historically law students have repaid their loans. But that is the same sloppy logic that created the housing bubble. The only way the math works is if the vast majority of law school graduates, despite low or no starting salaries, experience a steady, multi-year surge in income. This is a foolish assumption for anyone who understands the current state of law firm economics. Of course, just like most home mortgages, student debt over and above the Federal Stafford Loans, often get bundled together, turned into securities, and sold.
- Law Schools are Self-Interested and Locked in a Positional Competition. This is not a criticism; it is a statement of fact. Law schools work very hard to manage their market position, including their US News rank, because students and alumni can be completely demoralized with a significant decline. It does not matter if the decline in quality is illusory; stakeholders will declare the patient sick. This may surprise naive law students, but law schools cannot be counted on to be an objective broker. We need a regulator to level the playing field and force us to be transparent. Which brings me to my fourth point … .
- Failure of Self-Regulation. The ABA Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar bears some responsibility here, but not become it has accredited too many law schools — the antitrust implications of barring market entry are real. Rather, the Section has become too focused on the comfort of its law school members. If the Section collected and published detailed employment outcome information in a way that facilitated school-to-school comparisons–yes, just like US News–the information would trickle down to potential law schools. It is not helpful to say that 15% of a school’s graduates work in business — they need to know how many of those 15% are waiting tables, driving a cab, or selling insurance. Re jobs in private practice, how many are working as contract attorneys? Nobody really knows, and the issue is not on the Section’s agenda. If these data are published, some law schools would probably go out of business.
With corporate firms experiencing sluggish demand and tremendous downward pressure on fees, changes in hiring patterns (both the number of jobs and their remuneration) are going to exert tremendous pressure on law schools to rethink their business models. To my mind, the proper response is for law schools to really think through how they can maximally enhance the human capital of law school graduates. (Others might think the proper response is offer the same quality at a lower price, which is the situation confronted by most law firms these days.)
Here, the greatest risk is drawing the wrong inferences from the historical record and confusing market signals with professional education that truly enhances the decision-making and judgment of young lawyers. For the last several decades, entry level-lawyer remuneration–a tempting market-based metric of value-added–has been based on a combination of branding and sorting of raw inputs. In other words, it is not the curriculum at Harvard or Yale, or the massive scholarly output of the faculty, that drove the demand for their graduates. Rather, it was the Ivy-League brand (think Pavlov’s dog) buttressed by statistics that these schools had admitted students with very high IQs. In turn, firms used this information to signal their superior collective credentials to their clients. At end of the day, pedigree definitely has CYA value for many general counsel. But the Bi-Modal distribution suggests that this signal became dramatically overvalued. See Henderson, The Bursting of the Pedigree Bubble, NALP Bulletin (July 2009).
So the open question goes to the very heart of professional education: what type of law school curriculum and teaching methods are really worth the price paid by today’s students? Even if law schools instituted a moratorium on the writing of law review articles for an entire academic year, our collective brain power may be inadequate to answer this question. But I guarantee that the answer requires a strong engagement with practicing lawyers and recourse to empirical methods — not necessarily to publish articles (that is a mere second order effect) but to refashion and retool what and how we teach. The schools that rise to this challenge are, in the long run, going to fare better than those who continue to be believe that more faculty law review articles will raise the school’s ranking, thus enticing more employers to hire their students.
[thanks to shopliftertoo and bill henderson via cc]
Domain Names and Trademarks: Summary of Legal Seminar
Moderator:
Melanie Mitchell
Speakers:
Deborah Wilcox, Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
Clarke Walton, Founder, Walton Law Firm
David Naffziger, President & CEO, BrandVerity, Inc.
Clarke Walton starts the session.
Started out as an SEO before became a lawyer. Paid for law school through affiliate marketing.
Two most popular ways domain name disputes are resolved are through the UDRP and ACPA. Both enacted in 1999 to deal with cybersquatting. UDRP is like biding arbitration. Less formal. No hearing. ACPA on the other hand is more involved, it’s actual litigation. Each of the two options has pros and cons. UDRP is fast, and works well against international registrars. Costs are fixed and easy to estimate. Attorney fees generally $3-$5k. Down side is that it’s hard to get domain transferred if you win, can’t recover damages, can’t recover attorney fees.
ACPA: Benefits – can get domain name transferred to you if you win. Can get damages recovered. Up to $100k per domain. Can get emergency relief, and attorney fees. Expensive, difficult to estimate costs.
Brett asked Clarke to use a case study to prop up the central theme. Shares a story that everyone should identify with. The domain name is Pubcon.com. Was registered 9/22/03/ The original registrant was Clarke. Bought the domain name, and offered it to Brett.
Trademark strength: Trademark = source identifier. Anything that functions to identify the origin. Not all trademarks are created equal. 5 levels of trademark strength.
Fanciful is the most powerful, Xerox is an example. a word that has been made up.
Arbitrary is a strong one as well. Take a word that means one thing, and use it to mean something else – Apple is a great example. Apple is also an example of a generic or weak trademark. Between these types, are descriptive and subjective. Lines are fuzzy. Descriptive is relatively weak, American Airlines is an example. It’s descriptive of the product. But over time AA spent money and time building the brand. You think of the brand nowadays. Suggestive – Microsoft is an example. Requires a bit of thought to decipher meaning.
Examples:
Fanciful: Zillow, Expedia – totally made up words.
Arbitrary: Kayak, Amazon.
Suggestive: – Youtube, Moviebuff, Gamespot, SeatGuru.
Descriptive: – IMDB, HomeLoanCenter.
Generic: – Hotels.com, Lawyers.com. Court said these are generic trademarks, few rights.
Who has priority? If two people are using the same mark – who has greater rights? In the US – the key is whomever uses it commerce first. Less to do with registration date – but rather date of use in business. Back to Pubcon example. Brett filed the trademark in 3/2004, but first use was in 2001. First common law rights. Pubcon is probably suggestive since it has the word “con” or conference.
Bad faith? Clarke registered the domain before registration of trademark. did not exercise bad faith, because he gave it to Brett. But if he bought it and sent it to SES, and took Affiliate commission – that is bad faith. The content on the domain name matters! What you do with the domain affects the right. Venetian is arbitrary. It’s a hotel hear in Vegas, but also describes location. If publish content on Vegas casinos – bad faith. If publish content about Venice Italy, no worries – solid defense.
Next up is Deborah Wilcox.
Deborah reviews an interesting case study for us. Punch Clock Inc. v Smart Software Development. Came up in Florida courts earlier this year.
Plaintiff was Punchclock.com. Sells a computer program to record employee hours and pay. Generic name. Plaintiff did register the trademark covering the product. Was a supplemental register. There are 2 types, supplemental and principal. Supplemental is an admission that you don’t have rights yet, but are on the books with the government and can use the trademark symbol – but have no rights. There are some benefits and drawbacks. Later, they filed as principal. When a term starts out weak, but brand strengthens. Need evidence of distinctiveness. Owner filed an affidavit.
The plaintiff described PunchClock.com as exactly what the name implies. A full featured punch clock software package.
The defendant owned Punch-Clock.com and was located in Canada. Also sold products to the US – time keeping software program. Plaintiff sent a cease and desist letter. A way to talk before going to court, to see if you can work things out. Was some email exchange, and Punch-clock.com felt safe up in Canada, and felt that the punchclock.com didn’t have much weight. Maybe had stronger rights in Canada – rights go country by country.
The dispute: 6 years later. Lawsuit in 2007 in Federal Court. Why was there a delay? Courts usually have an issue with that. The other side builds up the business – latches is the term used as the defense. Usually there would have been a fight if there is a real trademark. The battle was happening in the organic results in Google, and translated into Alexa rankings. No evidence that other party was buying search terms. Defendant didn’t end up showing to court. Shows lack of care. Not a good thing. Judge basically takes as true the allegations of the complaint. Canadian defendant defaulted.
The judgement for the plaintiff: Trademark infringement, cybersquatting, bad faith use, unfair competition. Likelihood of confusion.
What happened to the winner? Won the domain name. Awarded $100k which is the max damages. Awarded $30k in attorney’s fees and costs, finding exceptional case. Judge ordered over $1m in corrective advertising damages.
Defendant bought PPC keywords from Google @ $136 / day. Time 7 years – total = $347k. 3X for willful nature of infringement = $1,042,440. Judge felt the $1m was too low because of this.
Unlikely that the plaintiff collected. Need to take the case to Canada, and even if you win – need to find assets. Now punchclock.com ranks #1. The defendant changed the name of the company and ranks lower. The plaintiff gloated the winnings of the court case on the homepage of the site.
Take-aways – Look for legal issues with competitors sites if not ranking high organically. Be creative in asking for corrective advertising. Show up to court! Find substantive experts. Attack casual assumptions on harm and money damages. Law protects consumers against confusion. To recoup funds, need to prove harm, such as lower rankings. Was the loss to plaintiff really a million dollars?
David Naffzigger wraps up the session:
Domain monitoring: Think like an abuser. Which domains to monitor register if you operate a website? Brand extensions, typos, alternative extensions.
Why would someone register a misspelling or variant? To make money on type in traffic, or SEO purposes, or to sell it to you. Maybe it’s to defame or embarrass the company.
Tools to find typos – domaintools.com is great. will give you common errors and misspellings, and creates good lists of typos.
Find brand extensions: People aren’t just typing “Virgin Atlantic” – typing in “Virgin Atlantic Mobile” or “Virgin Atlantic Phone”. Adwords tool and KeywordDiscovery is great for finding variants of queries. Domainsearch.com is great for International registrations. Can be scary if brand is trademarked in Russia or places where trademarks are not strongly enforced.
Multiplex the three forms – combine typos and countries, brand extensions – virginatlanticmobile.co.uk, etc. Not great tools to do this – Excel can be useful. Figure out which ones you care about. Can’t go after all of them. Find the ones that have traffic. Domains that are used by competitors. Domains that are offensive.
Tools to estimate traffic: Adwords keyword tool – plug the domain name in and the keyword phrase. KeywordTracker. Look at the registration date. Older registrations are more likely to have traffic. Buy Adwords for every typo in question.
Compete and Alexa can be useful.
PPC Trademark Abuse: Higher bar for PPC Abuse since it requires more investment to operate. Domain name registration is much cheaper, PPC abuse is costlier to operate. Abuse is conducted by organizations that compete with you, affiliates, or strongly dislike you.
How they hide from you? Reverse geo-targeting. Hide ads from where company headquarters are. Buy ads in every state where business does not have offices. Day-parting – run the ads at night when workers are asleep. Copy your ad text – and redirect it to affiliate link.
How they dodge Google filters? TM in display URL. Variations on TM (typos, spaces, etc.). Macy’s for example does not have a trademark on “MacysStore”.
Get your trademark registered in Google, Yahoo, MSN. Try to register your typos and extensions with Google. Make sure you use an email address from the domain you are protecting.
If that fails, trademark your most trafficked typos and then go back to Google.
Monitoring: Manual – Use Google translate or other translation tools. Use other proxies – AOL, or anything that gets your IP from a different location. Do the testing at off hours. Look at the page source.
[via seroundtable]
