The Oklahoma Publishing Company and one of its reporters, Jacob Trotter, sued James W. Conradt in federal court in Oklahoma in July 2008, after he posted a fake article that mimicked the appearance of the publishing company's NewsOK.com website and purported to be written by Trotter. According to the complaint, the fake article falsely stated that two University of Oklahoma football players had been arrested for intent to distribute cocaine. Conradt allegedly posted links to the article from his Nebraska football fan site, darthhusker.com, and from the Rivals.com message board. The day after it was posted, Conradt admitted creating the article.

The complaint included claims for federal trademark infringement and dilution, copyright infringement, federal and state unfair competition, violation of Trotter's right of publicity, false light, libel, and deceit. The parties settled for an undisclosed sum, and the court dismissd the case in September 2008.  As part of the settlement, Conradt wrote a letter of apology to be published by the publishing company and Conradt and agreed to never again publish an article in a manner that makes it appear the article was published in The Oklahoman or NewsOK.com.

Privé Vegas, LLC and two of its owners sued Las Vegas-based blogger Michael Politz in August 2008, alleging trademark infringement, dilution, and "disaparagement" under the Lanham Act, defamation, trade libel, tortious interference with business relations, and extortion. The company operates a nightclub called "Privé" in the Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas.  Politz operates the TheVegasEye.com blog, which covers goings-on in the Las Vegas entertainment and hospitality industries and provides restaurant reviews and reports on celebrity sightings and the like.

According to the complaint, filed in federal district court in Nevada, Politz published a post on July 23, 2008 reporting on a lawsuit Privé brought against four former employees. In his post, Politz allegedly made false statements about the lawsuit and about management "shaking down" employees for tip money to be placed in a "Slush Fund." Cmplt. ¶ 20. At the top of his post, Politz included a graphic of  Privé's trademark (shown on the right).

In addition, on August 12, 2008, Politz allegedly posted on his blog an anonymous letter to the State of Nevada Gaming Control Board, which purported to be written by a former employee of Privé.  The letter made a number of allegedly defamatory statements, including that Privé forced employees to work late hours without pay, that management sold drugs through the nightclub, and that management allowed underaged girls to enter the club and served them liquor. Cmplt. ¶¶ 25, 28, 30, 32, 33. At the top of the post, Politz included a graphic of the Privé trademark surrounded by a red circle with a line through it:

The nightclub filed suit in federal court after Politz did not comply with a demand letter sent in August.

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson issued a grand jury subpoena to New York political blog Room Eight seeking identifying information for several anonymous bloggers and commentors. The subpoena ordered Room Eight operators Gur Tsabar and Ben Smith not to disclose the subpoena's existence -- not even to the anonymous posters -- because doing so could "impede the investigation" and "interfere with law enforcement."

In the disputed posts, Room Eight posters using the pseudonyms "Republican Dissident" (RD), "Dissident Hunter," and "Anonymous" criticized local politicians and Bronx Republican Party officials. According to copies of posts attached to the subpoena, a poster accused Bronx Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco and board employee Dawn Sandow of having an extramarital affair and other posters accused them of committing misdeeds. Many of the posts focused on Sandow, including one that included a graphic of a witch flying on a broom and told her to "HAVE A NICE FLIGHT" (caps in the original). Other postings attached to the subpoena alleged that Bronx Republican Party official Jay Savino and other local politicians and officials had engaged in fraudulent and illegal activities.

According to Room Eight's court filings, anonymous poster "Republican Dissident" also criticized the Bronx Republican Party for failing to run candidates against District Attorney Johnson, the D.A. who issued the subpoena to Room Eight. However, the District Attorney did not include these posts when he sent the subpoena requesting the information from Room Eight.

Following receipt of the subpoena, Tsabar and Smith sought permission from the D.A.'s Office to notify the anonymous posters about the subpoena so they could object to the revelation of their identifying information. Negotiations between the parties failed, so the non-disclosure demand remained in force.

On May 22, 2008, Tsabar and Smith moved to quash the subpoena in the Supreme Court of New York for Bronx County. They argued that the subpoena threatened the posters' First Amendment right to speak anonymously, analogizing to numerous civil cases protecting online anonymity rights in the context of subpoenas. According to Public Citizen, counsel for Tsabar and Smith, Room Eight also threatened to file a federal suit on the ground that the threat of criminal prosection violated the posters' right to criticized the District Attorney.

After Room Eight filed its motion to quash, Johnson withdrew the subpoena. Public Citizen advised the D.A. that it still would file suit if he intended that the subpoena's non-disclosure language remain in force. The D.A. then freed the defendants to disclose information regarding the subpoenas.

Wal-Mart filed counterclaims in a lawsuit against Charles Smith, asserting trademark and unfair competition claims under federal and state law. The case arose after Smith created a website using the domain name www.walocaust.com and started selling nazi-themed "Walocaust" merchandise through his account on Cafepress.com. Smith, a passionate critic of Wal-Mart, created a number of "Walocaust" graphics that parodied Wal-Mart's familiar trademarks and slogans by likening Wal-Mart's business practices to nazism and its effect on communities to the Holocaust. Smith reproduced these graphics on his website and printed them on T-shirts and other novelty merchandise that he sold through Cafepress. Wal-Mart sent cease-and-desist letters to Smith and CafePress in December 2005 and February 2006. Smith responded by filing a lawsuit in federal court in Georgia seeking a declaration that his use of the "Walocaust" was lawful, and Wal-Mart counterclaimed.

Wal-Mart asked the court for an injunction barring Smith from making any commercial use of the prefix "Wal," for an order awarding it ownership of Smith's Wal-Mart-related domain names, and nominal damages. After the lawsuit commenced, Smith registered the domain names www.wal-qaeda.com and www.walqaeda.com and developed a new series of graphics for CafePress merchandise combining "Wal-Mart" with "Al-Qaeda" and expressing Smith's virulently anti-Wal-Mart views.

In March 2008, the federal district court granted summary judgment to Smith on all counts and dismissed Wal-Mart's counterclaims. The court held that Smith's use of Wal-Mart trademarks was a parody, and that no reasonable person would be confused by Smith's parodic use. The court further ruled that Wal-Mart's trademark dilution claim was barred because Smith's use of the company's trademarks was protected "noncommercial" speech, despite the fact that he placed his graphics on items like T-shirts sold to the public.