Court will not review eBay win in Tiffany lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will not overturn a ruling that says eBay is not violating Tiffany's trademarks by selling items on its website that might be counterfeit.
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Tiffany Inc.
Tiffany sued eBay in 2004, saying eBay engaged in trademark infringement and dilution because most items that sellers list for sale as genuine Tiffany silver jewelry on its sites were fakes.
Lower courts said eBay took down listings when Tiffany informed the company that the materials were counterfeit. The judges said eBay cannot be held responsible for counterfeits being sold on its site if the website does not know the items are fake.
Tiffany wanted the Supreme Court to reconsider that ruling.
Supreme Court rejects appeal on Va. alcohol ad ban
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is leaving in place a ban on alcohol advertising in Virginia's college newspapers.
The court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the newspapers. The appeal argued that the ban is an unconstitutional restraint on speech.
The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., upheld the regulation by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission that prohibits advertising of beer, wine and mixed drinks in college student publications unless in advertisements for dining establishments. It also bans the phrase "happy hour" and references to specific mixed drinks.
The case is Educational Media Company v. Swecker, 10-278.
Teen's appeal in Internet music case rejected
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a Texas teenager who got in trouble for downloading music without paying.
Whitney Harper acknowledged she used file-sharing networks to download and share three dozen songs.
But she said the money she owes music companies should be reduced because as a 16-year-old she didn't know that what she did amounted to copyright infringement.
The justices rejected Harper's appeal Monday over a dissent from Justice Samuel Alito. The issue in the case is whether people who illegally swap music online can try to show that they did so innocently. Harper wanted the money owed for each song cut to $200 from $750.
The case is Harper v. Maverick Recording Co., 10-94.
Appeal from La. death row inmate will not be heared
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court won't hear a second appeal from a man sentenced to death for killing a Louisiana businessman in 2002.
The high court refused to hear an appeal from Jesse Jay Montejo.
The court ruled last year Montejo could not complain that police interacted with him outside of the presence of his lawyer because he never verbally accepted the assistance of his court-appointed lawyer.
But the justices sent Montejo's case back to Louisiana for judges to determine whether any of Montejo's other court-provided protections, like his Miranda rights, were violated. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled none of his other rights were violated.
Montejo wanted the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.
The case is Montejo v. Louisiana, 10-416.
High court won't wade into Florida water fight
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court won't force Florida water managers to get permits to pump contaminated water from farmland into Lake Okeechobee.
The high court refused to hear an appeal from the Friends of the Everglades, the Florida Wildlife Federation and other groups.
The 11th U.S. Court of Appeals had agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency that transferring polluted water from one navigable body to another does not require a permit.
A federal judge in 2006 had said the pumping constituted a "discharge of a pollutant" under the Clean Water Act and required the South Florida Water Management District to get a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit.
The case is Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, 10-196.
Published: Wed, Dec 1, 2010
