A federal court judge has ruled that referencing a trademarked term in ad text generated by a Web search may violate trademark rights. John Hamzik, who holds the trademark for "The Dating Ring," filed suit alleging that Zale jewelry company violated his trademark by purchasing the keywords "dating ring" for purposes of advertising via paid searches on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. He also alleged that Zale violated his trademark because jewelry items were displayed when a user searched on "dating ring" on the Zale Web site. CNET News

A bill introduced in Congress aims to overturn a controversial royalty fee increase that Internet radio advocates say threatens to cripple their services. The "Internet Radio Equality Act," introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), would invalidate a March 2 decision by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that calls for raising royalty rates paid by Net radio operators. CNET News

In this day and age, it's no longer sufficient to just watch a presidential debate on television. You should also be able to upload it, YouTube it, share it, splice it, and 'remix' it online. That's the argument put forth by copyright-reform advocate and Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, who sent a letter asking the chairs of the Democratic and Republican National Committees to ensure that video from the 2008 presidential debates can be uploaded, distributed and edited by anyone online. CNET News

Vonage may continue to sign up new customers while appealing a patent infringement loss to Verizon, a federal appeals court ruled. The stay, which arrived without comment from the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was part of a brief order that also dictated the schedule for the appeals process. CNET News

Internet radio broadcasters were dealt a setback when a panel of copyright judges threw out requests to reconsider a ruling that hiked the royalties they must pay to record companies and artists. In the latest ruling, the Copyright Royalty Board judges denied all motions for rehearing and also declined to postpone a May 15 deadline by which the new royalties will have to be collected. CNN.com

A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Google Inc. charging that the Web search leader's adWords program abuses trademarks. In making his decision that effectively allows the case to move forward, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Vogel ruled that the public has an interest in whether Google adWords violates U.S. trademark law. Reuters

Politicians from both parties of the U.S. Congress unveiled a new proposal designed to make the most sweeping changes to the nation's patent system in decades. The latest attempt at a so-called Patent Reform Act borrows many ideas from earlier versions that died before votes, thanks in part to disagreements among various sectors--including high-tech companies, the pharmaceutical industry, venture capitalists and independent inventors--about the extent to which the system needs fixing. CNET News

Vonage Holdings, the Internet phone company, had a wild ride in the courtroom. First, a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., barred Vonage from signing up new customers for its Internet phone service. Then hours later, a federal appeals court gave Vonage a temporary stay of that injunction, allowing the company to continue to enroll customers while it sought to overturn the lower court ruling. The New York Times

News agency Agence France-Presse has entered into a licensing deal with Google, ending the dispute between the two over AFP's articles appearing on Google News. The agreement allows Google to post AFP content, including news stories and photographs, on its Google News aggregator as well as on other Google services. CNET News

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has made a preliminary decision to revoke three fundamental patents on human embryonic stem cells. If the decision stands, some scientists and consumer groups say it could loosen restrictions on research in a promising new field. Patent examiners rejected all the claims of the three patents that are based on the work of James A. Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, who is widely viewed as having been the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells and grow them in culture. The New York Times