BidZirk, LLC v. Smith, Civil No. 06-109, 2007 WL 3119445 (D. S.C. summary judgment granted Oct. 22, 2007) (unpublished).
Status: Summary judgment granted to defendant (Oct. 22, 2007).


In March 2005, Philip Smith consigned several items to BidZirk, which places customer’s items for auction on ebay.com. Smith was dissatisfied with the prices he received for some of the items, and in January 2006, began publishing entries on his “Fix Your Thinking” blog (http://jackwhispers.blogspot.com), starting with one titled “You Gotta Be Berserk To Use An eBay Listing Company!,” listing his grievances with BidZirk. The postings included BizZerk’s logo. BidZerk and its owners sued for trademark infringement, defamation and invasion of privacy; Smith countersued for claims based on the BidZerk’s sales of his items. The trial court denied a preliminary injunction against use of the logo, which was affirmed by the 4th Circuit. (Nevertheless, Smith agreed to remove all but one of the logos.) The trial court then dismissed the counterclaims. The lawsuit continued on BidZerk’s original claims against Smith, until the court granted summary judgment to the defendant in Oct. 2007.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/bidzirk-llc-v-smith
http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2006/11/blog_lawsuit_ov.htm
4th Cir. decision: http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/061487.U.pdf

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