E-Commerce & Internet Litigation

The Internet and e-commerce have been a boon to businesses and consumers, but many law firms have struggled to fully grasp the legal challenges presented by this new technological era. We understand internet business models and represent small to mid-market companies and their executives in business litigation.

Erik Syverson and our legal team have made Internet law the cornerstone of our practice at Syverson, Lesowitz & Gebelin, LLP. From our law office in Los Angeles, we represent companies and their executives in regulatory actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission and California’s Attorney General. We also represent companies in class actions or unfair completion litigation pursuant to California Business and Professions code sections 17200 and 17500. Finally, we handle a high volume of digital media and intellectual property litigation including copyrights and trademarks.

We represent both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of e-commerce and litigation issues, combining our Internet law knowledge with the ability to craft a successful trial strategy. For a consultation, contact our Los Angeles, California, office online or call 310-270-6000.

The same commercial disputes that occur in the offline world frequently occur in the digital world. We often represent companies in breach of contract actions relating to various e-commerce disputes with competitors, vendors, joint ventures and even consumers. Increasingly, internet and technology companies are the target of consumer class actions for claims relating to false advertising, privacy violations, defective service and hidden fees and charges. Our team is able to offer effective complex litigation counsel to companies sued for such claims.

Increasingly, our clients are sued for actions related to internet marketing and advertising. Our clients include large affiliate networks as well as direct internet retailers in the apparel and nutritional supplement industries. Online advertising offers several basic business models:

• Cost per click or pay per click: In this model, advertisers pay based upon the number of consumer clicks on a given digital advertisement. Google's AdWords program is an example of this Internet advertising model.

• Cost per acquisition: Advertisers bundle products with free offers or trial offers, and the publisher gets paid each time a consumer signs up for the offer. These leads are then often re-sold to marketers or end sellers such as insurance companies.

• Direct sales: Apparel and electronics retailers typically sell their products direct to the consumer through their own web platforms or third party sites.

• Banner ads: Advertisers place banner ads on third party sites touting their products and consumers are delivered to a sales point by clicking on the banner ad.

• Social media: Twitter and Facebook serve as the main social media advertising hubs. Facebook relies upon recommendations from friends while Twitter focuses on celebrity sponsored tweets.

• SMS marketing: This consists of marketers gathering mobile phone numbers and sending marketing messages via text message. Often times, marketers conduct SMS marketing in violation of the TCPA. Additionally, many text message marketing campaigns also engage in cramming. Cramming is the unauthorized infliction of charges to mobile customers for various unwanted services.

Internet and mobile advertising techniques lead to frequent e-commerce litigation. We have represented plaintiffs and defendants in numerous high profile internet marketing litigation matters. A few recent matters include:

• Lambotte v. IAC Interactive, Central District of California (2011): We were appointed class counsel in an action against IAC Interactive and Citysearch.com in litigation seeking to reimburse advertisers victimized by click fraud in IAC Interactive’s advertising network. We obtained a seven figure settlement for the class members.

• Select Management v. D and D Marketing, Inc., Central District of California (2011): We represented a large affiliate network against trademark infringement and unfair business practices claims brought by a large national pay day lender. We obtained a dismissal with prejudice for our client without paying a penny in damages or attorney fees.

• AMI Clubwear v. Pink Basis, Los Angeles Superior Court (2013): We defended an online retailer of women’s apparel against trade secrets and copyright infringement claims brought by a competitor and former business partner. The case is pending, we filed a multi-million dollar counterclaim against the plaintiff for our client’s equity stake in his former business.

• RK West v. Google, Northern District of California (2012): We represented a class of internet advertisers against Google and its Adwords network for click fraud taking place on Google’s content network.

For more information on e-commerce and Internet litigation, contact us online to schedule a consultation with a highly skilled business dispute attorney in Los Angeles.