Jenzabar, Inc. v. Long Bow Group, Inc.

JENZABAR, INC. v. LONG BOW GROUP, INC.  |  No. 2011-P-1533  |  Mass. App. Ct. January 18, 2012  |  The Cyberlaw Clinic prepared this amicus brief (pdf) on behalf of the Digital Media Law Project, supporting documentary film production company Long Bow Group, Inc.  The case concerns Long Bow’s use of Jenzabar’s name in metadata on web sites containing speech critical of Jenzabar and its founder.  The brief argues that Jenzabar’s attempt to use trademark law to prohibit the use of its name in metadata was an effort to render Long Bow’s protected speech inaccessible on the Internet and was therefore barred by the First Amendment and Article 16 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.