Mega law firm Jones Day reinforces prior statements that have been made about business attorneys who decide to wade into Internet law. Jones Day is allegedly suing website owners for trademark infringement because the site referred to the law firm without obtain permission and externally linked to the firm’s website.

This is different than another recent case where a law firm sued a competitor for trademark infringement. In the Jones Day case, the defendant is not a competitor - the firm apparently just doesn’t like the context in which it has been referred to on the site, i.e. the defendant posted information about condominiums purchased by two Jones Day lawyers.

While you can never be certain what a judge will do with a particular case, particularly when you’ve got a law firm with deep pockets willing to litigate and associates to grind out the paperwork, you’d think that somewhere along the line First Amendment free speech rights will prevail.

If Jones Day wins this case, it will curtail free speech online. What a pity.

DISCLAIMER: Although I’ve linked to the firm’s website and referenced the term “Jones Day” multiple times, neither I nor my law firm is in any way affiliated with the firm. See U.S. Const. amend. I.

About the Author

With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 14 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young shows entrepreneurs how to protect and grow their businesses online. He's the author of "Internet Marketing Legal Secrets Revealed," "How to Create Your Own Internet Business Without a Lawyer for Under $175," and the creator of Website Legal Forms Generator^TM. Not just a lawyer who focuses exclusively on Internet and marketing law, Mike’s been working with computers for more than 27 years (his first computer was an Atari 400 with 8 KiB RAM) and started representing Internet businesses back in 1996.