Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION EDMUNDS, District Judge. INTRODUCTION Almost everyone who has surfed the Internet on his or her computer has encountered advertisements that pop-up from time to time. While the average Internet user may find the advertisements annoying, the question before the Court is whether they violate trademark or copyright law. Plaintiffs Wells Fargo & Co. and Quicken Loans, Inc. have asked the Court for a preliminary injunction against Defendant WhenU.com, Inc., whose business is Internet contextual advertising. For the reasons stated in this opinion, plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction is DENIED. FINDINGS OF FACT The Parties 1. Plaintiff WFC Holdings Corporation is a corporation incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in San Francisco, California. Complaint ¶ 6. 2. Plaintiff Wells Fargo & Company (collectively with WFC Holdings Corporation, “Wells Fargo”) is a corporation incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in San Francisco, California, and is the parent company of WFC Holdings Corporation. Complaint ¶ 7. 3. Plaintiff Quicken Loans Inc. (“Quicken Loans”) is a corporation incorporated in Michigan with its principal place of business in Livonia, Michigan. Complaint ¶ 9. 4. Plaintiffs Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans operate websites through which certain financial services are offered. Complaint ¶¶ 8,10. 5. Defendant WhenU.com, Inc. (“WhenU”) is a corporation incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in New York, New York. Answer ¶11. Plaintiffs’ Trademarks and Copyrights 6. The term “Wells Fargo” is a registered trademark of plaintiff Wells Fargo. PX 115. Wells Fargo has also received trademark registration for the logo it uses on its website. PX 117. 7. “QUICKEN LOANS” is a federally registered trademark, U.S. Reg. No. 2,528,282, owned by Intuit Inc. Tr. I (Ta-zelaar) 77. Intuit granted Quicken Loans an exclusive, nontransferable, non-assignable, perpetual license to the “QUICKEN LOANS” mark. Tr. I (Tazelaar) 77. See also PX 120. 8. Both Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans filed for copyright registration of their websites earlier this year. PX 114; PX 119. The copyright office granted registrations to the website “computer program.” PX 192; PX 193. Plaintiffs’ Businesses 9. The business of Quicken Loans consists of offering mortgages to customers. Tr. I (Stapp) 71:1-3. Quicken Loans services customer transactions through the Internet via the Quicken Loans website. Tr. I (Stapp) 68:10-15. 10. Quicken Loans customers appear to have some sophistication concerning mortgages. Currently, 85% to 90% of the Quicken Loans business consists of customers seeking to refinance prior mortgages, as opposed to first time home buyers. Tr. I (Stapp) 82:25-83:2, 140:17-141:3. Approximately 40% of these individuals are repeat customers who are already familiar with Quicken Loans, and the process of obtaining mortgages online. Tr. I (Stapp) 83:3-5. 11. Wells Fargo is a financial services company offering customers online access to various financial services and products. Tr. I (Tazelaar) 162:9-15. Many of these services and products are the sort that would likely be used by relatively sophisticated consumers, such as business services, brokerage services, wealth management services, and estate planning. PX 103, ¶ 5. Wells Fargo has offered financial products through the Internet since 1995. Tr. I (Tazelaar) 164:5-7. 12. Wells Fargo has made extensive use of its name and marks in interstate commerce in the United States and throughout the world. See Pis.’ Proposed Findings of Fact ¶ 18. The Wells Fargo marks have been associated with the Wells Fargo business since its founding in 1852 and they are distinctive designations of the corporation, its services, and its website. See id. Quicken Loans also has made extensive use of its name and mark in interstate commerce in the United States; and its mark now is associated with the corporation and is a distinctive designation of the corporation, its services and its website. See id. ¶ 23. Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans have expended substantial resources to advertise their products and services, including advertisement on the World Wide Web. See id. ¶¶21 & 24. Both entities are widely recognized as industry leaders in their respective areas of service. See id. ¶¶ 19 & 22. The Business of WhenU 13. WhenU delivers online “contextual marketing” to computers via its proprietary software product, “SaveNow.” Tr. VII (Naider) 19:25-20:5. 14. Contextual marketing technology endeavors to market products and services to consumers who have a demonstrable interest in those products and services. Tr. VII (Naider) 22:23-24:20. Traditionally, contextual marketing has been conducted by assembling large databases containing a wide variety of personal information about individual potential customers and their past purchasing behavior. Tr. VII (Naider) 23:24-24:20, 27:9-18; DX 501, ¶23. 15. WhenU’s proprietary software allows WhenU to deliver contextually relevant advertising at the moment the consumer demonstrates an interest in the product or service, without any knowledge of the consumer’s past history or personal characteristics. Tr. VII (Naider) 27:19-28:9. 16. WhenU’s participating consumers receive contextually relevant advertisements, delivered to them computer screens (also known as “desktops”). These advertisements are selected by SaveNow, based on a proprietary analysis of the consumer’s immediate interests, as reflected by the consumer’s Internet browsing activity. Tr. VII (Naider) 19:25-20:5; DX 501, ¶¶ 29-36. 17. Since launching its service in approximately early 2001, WhenU has delivered online marketing for more than four hundred advertisers, including such well-known companies as Bank of America, Citibank, Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, Panasonic, Cingular Wireless, Merck, and ING Bank. Tr. VII (Naider) 32:22-33:8; Tr. VIII (Naider) 47:16-18. How WhenU Distributes Its Software 18. WhenU offers its software under two brand names: “Save” and “SaveNow.” The two applications are identical in function; they differ only in their identifying descriptions and method of distribution. Tr. VII (Naider) 33:18-35:13. 19. Consumers typically download the “Save” and “SaveNow” software in return for obtaining a free software application. Tr. VII (Naider) 54:7-14. In some cases, consumers are offered a choice between paying for a “premium” version of the desired application, or obtaining the desired application for free, but bundled with Save. Tr. VII (Naider) 55:11-20. For example, the Bearshare software application is marketed to consumers in two forms: a premium version that costs $19.95 to download, and a free version that comes bundled with Save. Tr. VII (Naider) 34:8-14. WhenU has also developed its own freeware applications, including an application called “Weathercast,” which are bundled with Save software. Tr. VII (Naider) 20:16-18, 30:6-31:4. 20. The SaveNow software is also typically obtained as part of a “bundle” with another software program, such as the popular Living Coral or Living Waterfall screen savers, but the user is not obligated to keep SaveNow in order to use the free software. Tr. VII (Naider) 34:15-22, 54:7-12. 21. WhenU shares the revenue generated from its bundled software with its bundling partners. Tr. VII (Naider) 54:18-24. The bundling of revenue-generating, advertising software (“adware”) with free software programs (“freeware”) is a common practice. Many software companies rely on the revenue generated by advertising software in order to offer freeware for free and to provide service and support for their freeware programs. DX 501, ¶ 37; DX 523, ¶¶ 74-75. 22. SaveNow is also available for download at WhenU’s website (DX 501, ¶ 40), at the websites of WhenU’s free applications such as mmu.getweathercast.com (DX 501, ¶ 39), and at certain third-party websites via a software download prompt screen that offers a user surfing the Internet the opportunity to download, for example, Weathercast and Save. Tr. VII (Naider) 53:7-16; DX 538, ¶ 13; DX 539. Although many users claim not to be aware that SaveNow has been loaded on to their computer, the Court finds that some user assent is required before SaveNow is downloaded. The fact that assent may be in the form of a reflexive agreement required for some other bundled program does not negate the fact that the computer user must affirmatively ask for or agree to the download. The Download Process and the SaveNow License Agreement 23. Although there are variations in the SaveNow download process, depending upon the other applications that the computer user is installing, certain key features of the download remain constant. For example, during the installation process, the consumer always receives a notice stating that SaveNow is part of the download, and explaining how SaveNow functions. Tr. VII (Naider) 57:18-58:22; DX 501, ¶ 38. 24. Regardless of the method of distribution, to proceed with the installation of SaveNow, the consumer must affirmatively accept a license agreement for SaveNow (the “License Agreement”). Tr. VII (Naider) 61:13-15; DX 501, ¶ 38; DX 510. The License Agreement is presented to the user in a text box with a scroll bar. DX 510. This is the standard way in which license agreements are incorporated into software installations. Tr. VII (Naider) 57:1-17. 25. The License Agreement explains that the software generates contextually relevant advertisements and coupons, utilizing “pop-up” ,arid various other formats. Tr. VII (Naider) 57:19-58:23; DX 510. It also explains that WhenU reserves the right to update or upgrade the software at its discretion. Tr. VII (Naider) 60:5-10; DX 510. The software cannot be installed unless the consumer affirmatively accepts the terms of the License Agreement. Tr. VII (Naider) 60:13-15. 26. Plaintiffs’ computer expert Benjamin Edelman testified about how he obtained WhenU’s software via a software download prompt screen at a website called Lyricsdownload.com, using the phrase “drive by download” to describe this method of distribution. On cross-examination, Mr. Edelman conceded that the software download prompt screen offers the user the opportunity to read the License Agreement and tells the user that accepting the software is deemed to be an assent to its terms. Tr. VI (Edelman) 100:4-24. See also DX 538, ¶ 13; DX 539. Mr. Edelman also conceded that the distribution of software via a download prompt screen is a common practice, and is used by a variety of distributors for a variety of different purposes. Tr. VI (Edelman) 98:25-99:9. Uninstalling WhenU’s Software 27. Consumers can uninstall WhenU’s software from their computers if they no longer wish to have it. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 33:5-17; Tr. VII (Naider) 52:5-7. Once uninstalled, the software will cease to operate or show advertisements or coupons on the consumer’s computer. DX 501, ¶ 41. 28. When a user removes or “uninstalls” a program bundled with Save, the Save software is automatically uninstalled along with it. Tr. VII (Naider) 33:21-34:2. The Save software supports the associated program and cannot be uninstalled without also uninstalling that associated program. Tr. VII (Naider) 49:15-50:16. SaveNow can be uninstalled separately from any freeware program with which it was downloaded. The World Wide Web 29. Since 1996, millions of computer users have become regular users of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Tr. IV (Edelman) 111-12. The Internet is a network of millions of interconnected computers, through which text, images and sounds are transported and displayed by an application called the World Wide Web (the “Web”). Tr. IV (Edelman) 106-07. 30. Much of the information on the Web is stored in the form of “web pages,” which can be accessed through a computer connected to the Internet (available through commercial Internet service providers or “ISPs”), and viewed on a PC user’s computer screen using a computer program called a “browser,” such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Tr. IV (Edelman) 107-09. 31. Web pages are only perceivable by the user by viewing them on the computer screen through the use of a browser. Tr. IV (Edelman) 109; Tr. VI (Naider) 28. 32. A web page is identified by its own unique Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) (e.g., http://urww.wellsfargo.com), which ordinarily incorporates its name or the trademark of the website operator 0e.g., Wells Fargo). Tr. I (Tazelaar) 165. 33. “Websites” are locations on the World Wide Web containing a collection of web pages, much like pages of a book. Tr. IV (Edelman) 108. The 3-dimensional metaphor of the computer screen as a “desktop” is often used to discuss the display of text and images on a user’s computer screen. Tr. IV (Edelman) 116-17. 34. The computer screen is composed of a series of picture elements (called “pixels”). Tr. IV (Edelman) 117-19. 35. Pixels are arranged in a single layer of horizontal and vertical rows that form a grid on the computer screen. Tr. TV (Edelman) 117-18; Tr. IX (Reinhold) 44. The particular color of each individual pixel which, taken together, make up the image displayed on the 2-dimensional computer screen, is determined by instructions received from the underlying computer program. Tr. IV (Edelman) 117-19. 36. A series of events must transpire in order for a user to view a web page via an Internet browser on his or her computer screen. Tr. IV (Edelman) 119-20. 37. First, the remote server on which the computer code for a particular website is maintained sends the code to the user’s web browser. Tr. IV (Edelman) 120. 38. Second, the PC’s browser then reads the code to determine how each pixel that makes up the computer screen should illuminate in order to create the specific on-screen display for that particular website. Tr. IV (Edelman) 120. 39. Third, the PC’s browser then conveys specific instructions to the Windows operating system, which, in turn, will send these instructions to the PC’s video card. Tr. IV (Edelman) 120. These instructions are stored in the video memory frame buffer portion of the PC’s video card. Tr. IV (Edelman) 121-22. 40. Finally, the video card, thereupon, causes each pixel on the computer screen to illuminate so as to create the specific 2-dimensional on-screen display of the website. Tr. IV (Edelman) 120. The Windows Environment in Which WhenU Operates 41. WhenU’s software is designed to operate within the Windows computer operating system, popularized by Microsoft. DX 501, ¶ 11. Windows is the most widely distributed software application ever written, currently in use by roughly 95% of computer users. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 36:13— 14. 42. In the Windows operating system, the computer “desktop” functions as a multitasking environment in which numerous software “applications,” such as spreadsheets, word processing programs, Internet browsing software, e-mail software and instant messaging software, may all run simultaneously. DX 523, ¶¶ 28-36; DX 501, ¶ 12. 43. This graphical computer “desktop” was intentionally designed to represent what a user would experience when using an actual physical desktop, with virtual replicas of file folders, text, files, spreadsheets, calendars, rolodexes, and so on. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 127:22-128:7. The computer desktop thus gives the user the impression of operating in a three dimensional space in which items can be moved on top of and underneath each other. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 128:8-129:9. Accordingly, while a display on a computer screen is literally two dimensional, it can properly be viewed as a three dimensional presentation as a matter of user perception. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 127:15-20. 44. When a user opens a software application, it is launched in what is known as a “window,” a box on the user’s desktop within which all of the functions of that application are displayed and operate. Tr. IV (Edelman) 110:3-13; DX 501, ¶ 13. An application is simultaneously represented by a button on the “task bar,” the strip that typically runs along the bottom of the desktop. DX 501, ¶ 13. A window can be enlarged or “maximized” to fill the entire computer screen, or reduced to take up a smaller area. Tr. TV (Edelman) 112:9-19; DX 501, ¶ 13. 45. Over the past two decades, operating a computer by manipulating overlapping windows has become a familiar process to personal computer users everywhere. Tr. IX 16:1-11; DX 523, ¶35. Connecting to the Internet in the Windows Environment 46. To access the Internet in the Windows environment, a user must establish a connection to the Internet, either over a telephone modem or some other form of Internet connection. Once such a connection has been established, the user will typically launch a software application known as a “browser,” such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. Tr. IV (Edelman) 108:16-22; DX 501, ¶ 15. A user can have multiple browser windows open simultaneously. Tr. I (Stapp) 116:20-117:8. 47. When launched by the user, the browser, like any other Windows-based software application, opens in a new window. Tr. IV (Edelman) 112:11-12. Within this window, the user interacts with the browser to access various websites on the Internet. Tr. IV (Edelman) 107:18-108:22; DX 501, ¶ 15. 48. The user can directly access data contained in a particular website by entering the website’s address (or “URL”) into the address box in any such open browser window. Alternatively, the user may search for websites of interest by utilizing a search engine, such as Yahool or Google, and then access those websites by clicking on the resulting links displayed as listings. A user may also reach a particular website by clicking on a “hyperlink” embedded in the text or graphics of a webpage. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 129:10-24; DX 523, ¶21. 49. When a user attempts to access a webpage, the server hosting the webpage sends information in the form of a file back to the user’s browser program. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 130:8-15. That file consists simply of lines of text written in Hypertext Markup Language or “HTML.” Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 131:6-13, 132:5-25; DX 523, ¶¶16, 22; DX 570. 50. The browser then interprets the HTML code file, and taking that information in conjunction with the user’s own browser settings, requests that the Microsoft Windows operating system open a window to display the webpage. The operating system, in turn, takes all that information from the browser, combines it with information concerning the user’s hardware configuration and the competing claims of other software programs, and then displays content in a window. Tr. VIII 130:16-23; DX 523, ¶¶ 37-40. 51. The HTML code identifies various elements that help determine how the webpage will ultimately be rendered on a computer user’s screen, but it does not provide an actual pixel-by-pixel mapping for rendering the webpage. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 131:25-132:4; Tr. IX (Reinhold) 4:10-14. A wide variety of other factors will have a significant effect on the ultimate appearance of the webpage on the user’s screen, including the user’s ability to customize the browser’s settings. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 7:13-8:14; Tr. VI (Edelman) 58:8-21. Windows Permits the Display of Multiple Websites in Multiple Ways 52. The Windows environment permits a user to have multiple browser windows open simultaneously, each displaying a different webpage. Tr. I (Stapp) 116:20-117:8. As with other applications open on a user’s desktop, each separate browser window can be opened or closed, minimized or maximized, and moved around the screen. Tr. VI (Edelman) 62:1-13. The user can select which window appears in front of which other windows at any given time, in much the same way as a person can re-order a stack of papers on his or her desk. DX 523, ¶ 36; Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 125:7-23,128:25-129:9; DX 501, ¶¶ 11-12. 53. There are many applications that a user can run while browsing the Internet that cause additional windows to appear automatically in front of an open browser window. For example, a user may be viewing a webpage (e.g., cnn.com), when the user’s electronic mail or instant-messaging software (e.g., Microsoft Outlook or AOL Instant Messenger) launches a message in front of the browser window that the user is viewing. Tr. VI (Edelman) 62:21-63:3; DX 523, ¶ 40; DX 501, ¶ 18; DX 505. 54. Users have ultimate control over what programs run on their computers, when they are run, and what they are commanded to do. The user owns and controls the computer and the computer display, including the pixels that generate that display. DX 523, ¶ 25; Tr. VI (Edel-man) 79:10-25. How WhenU Delivers Advertisements to Participating Consumers 55. Advertisements shown by WhenU software are set up by WhenU’s Advertising Operations team. Tr. VIII (Naider) 5:24-6:3. The Advertising Operations Team receives creative copy from an advertiser, places the ad on a WhenU server, then “maps” the advertisement using an ad set-up table. Tr. VIII (Naider) 6:4-15, 18:6-19. Each advertisement is assigned a name and a variety of parameters such as size, priority, and frequency. Tr. VIII (Naider) 6:4-15. 56. The Advertising Operations Team “maps” the ad by determining the various categories in the Directory (such as “Air Travel”) and keyword algorithms that will trigger the appearance of the advertisement, subject to priority and frequency limitations. Tr. VIII (Naider) 7:12-10:8. 57. When the Advertisement Operations Team is done, the data is automatically recorded into the proprietary WhenU Directory (the “Directory”). Tr. VIII (Naider) 17:21-18:14. The Directory is delivered to and saved on the consumer’s desktop when the consumer installs the software, and optimized and updated on a daily basis. DX 501, ¶ 28. 58. As of July 1, 2003, the Directory contained approximately 32,000 URLs and URL fragments, 29,000 search terms and 1,200 keyword algorithms. Tr. VII (Naider) 98:10-99:6. The Directory categorizes these elements into various categories in much the same way as a local Yellow Pages indexes businesses into categories. These categories are the “heart” of WhenU’s system for delivering advertisements. Tr. VIII (Naider) 8:19-9:4, 27:25-28:5; DX501, ¶28. 59. As a participating consumer browses the Internet, the SaveNow software studies the user’s browsing activity and compares it against the elements contained in the Directory. Simultaneously, the Sa-veNow software determines whether: (a) any of those elements are associated with a category in the Directory, and (b) whether those categories are associated with particular advertisements. If the software finds a match, it identifies the associated product or service category, determines whether appropriate ads are available to be displayed, and, if so, selects an ad based on the system’s priority rules, subject to internal frequency limitations. Tr. VIII (Naider) 13:21-14:25; DX 501, ¶¶ 30-31. 60. Web addresses and search terms are included in the WhenU Directory solely as an indicator of a consumer’s interest. DX 501, ¶ 32. For example, the www.wellsfargo.com web address is included in the “finanee.mortgage” category of the WhenU Directory in order to identify consumers who are potentially interested in mortgages. Thus, if a consumer were to enter into the address box in an open browser window or conduct a search using a search engine by typing in the words “Wells Fargo,” SaveNow would detect that activity and scan the proprietary directory for a match to a WhenU category such as “finanee.mortgage.” DX 501, ¶ 31. 61. The SaveNow software might also determine that the consumer is interested in a particular category of products or services if it found certain combinations of words (“keyword algorithms”) in the content of the webpage visited. For example, if a participating consumer accessed a webpage that contained two occurrences of the word “buying,” two occurrences of the word “home” and four occurrences of the word “mortgage,” the SaveNow software might determine that the consumer was interested in the “finanee.mortgage” category. Tr. VIII (Naider) 9:5-20; DX 501, ¶33. 62. Under WhenU’s category system, any given ad will ultimately be mapped to scores of discrete elements (ie., URLs, search terms, key word algorithms) that are related topically. Tr. VIII (Naider) 7:21-9:4. Thus, WhenU advertisements do not specifically target individual websites such as Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans. For example, Mr. Edelman implied in his original declaration that an advertisement for “GetSmart” was specifically targeted at the Quicken Loans homepage. PX 109, ¶ 26. In fact, the complete mapping of that ad in the Directory reveals that it is mapped to 13 separate categories, each of which represents many URLs and search terms. DX 569; Tr. VIII (Naider) 19:7-19. The URL for the Quicken Loans homepage is only one of over hundreds, if not thousands, of URLs that could trigger this ad via the category system. Tr. VIII (Naider) 21:2-11. WhenU Sells Advertising On a Category Basis 63.WhenU sells advertising to advertisers on the basis of sales categories, which are grouped into certain product and service categories. Tr. VIII (Naider) 4:12-23, 63:21-64:5. These sales categories are broader than the categories used for mapping advertisements. Tr. VIII (Naider) 7:21-8:6. Although the sales categories are made public for marketing purposes, the categories used to map ads are known only to the WhenU Advertising Operations Team, and are not disclosed or in any way promoted to WhenU’s advertisers, in-house sales team, or independent sales agents. Tr. (Naider) 34:13-18. 64. WhenU does not guarantee advertisers that their advertisements will appear when participating consumers access content from a particular website. WhenU guarantees only that advertisements will be shown to consumers who appear interested in a particular product or service sales category. Tr. VIII (Naider) 34:1-18; DX 501, ¶ 35. 65. WhenU does not allow its own advertisers to be excluded from any category as a condition of purchasing advertising from WhenU. Tr. VII (Naider) 45:25-46:11. Thus, WhenU can and does show ads for its advertisers’ competitors — ads that may well appear when a user has accessed the advertiser’s website. Id. 66. In sum, WhenU does not target specific websites either in its software or in selling its services to advertisers. Rather, WhenU’s advertisements are displayed according to the product category in which the consumer is interested and limited by factors such as the number of advertisements the consumer has already seen. Thus, it is the user’s actions on his or her desktop that ultimately determine whether that consumer will see a particular advertisement. DX 501, ¶¶ 31, 36, 46. WhenU Ads Are Displayed in Separate, Conspicuously Branded Windows, and Specifically Advise Participating Consumers That They Are From WhenU, and Are Not Sponsored by Any Website the User May Be Viewing 67. The advertisements and coupons that SaveNow delivers to a participating consumer’s desktop appear in a window (the “WhenU Window”) which is separate and distinct from any other window already open on the desktop. Tr, VI (Edel-man) 63:4-16; Tr. VII (Naider) 46:19-47:11; DX 523, ¶ 49; DX 501, ¶ 43. 68. SaveNow advertisements take various formats, such as: (1) a small format “pop-up” window that typically appears flush to the bottom right-hand corner of the consumer’s desktop; (2) a larger “pop-under” window that appears behind some or all of the browser windows that the consumer is viewing; (3) a horizontal “panoramic” window that runs along the bottom of the user’s computer screen. Regardless of the format used, the WhenU Window is a distinct, separate window unique to the SaveNow application and represented by its own button on the user’s task bar. Tr. VII (Naider) 43:16-45:20; DX 501, ¶ 44. 69. Many SaveNow advertisements— approximately 50% of the total — are pop-under ads. Tr. VII (Naider) 45:16-20. WhenU’s pop-under ads are designed not to be displayed to the user until after the user closes or minimizes the browser window containing the webpage that the user was viewing when the ad was triggered by the SaveNow software. Tr. VII (Naider) 44:15-23, 45:10-12. Thus, unless manipulated by the user, a SaveNow pop-under ad triggered by a Wells Fargo or Quicken Loans URL will not be displayed on the user’s screen at the same time as the webpage with that URL. DX 501, ¶ 49; Tr. VI (Edelman) 68:12-16; Tr. VII (Naider) 44:11-23. 70. SaveNow pop-up ads appear as a small box in the bottom right hand corner of the user’s computer screen. Tr. VII (Naider) 43:20-44:1; DX 501, ¶45. Depending on the site visited, the browser size, and the user’s screen resolution configuration, a SaveNow pop-up ad may or may not appear in front of content in the underlying website. Tr. VI (Edelman) 65:15-24. 71. If the underlying webpage (or any other underlying windows, such as a Word document) is clicked on after the pop-up format advertisement is displayed, the pop-up will no longer appear at the front of the screen, although it will still be present in the user’s task bar at the bottom of the screen. DX 501, ¶ 54. 72. At any time a user may make any form of SaveNow advertisement disappear permanently by clicking on the “X” box at the top right hand corner of the ad. Tr. VII (Naider) 43:9-15. The “X” box is a standard feature of the Windows operating system and Internet users are generally familiar with its function. Tr. VII (Naider) 43:14-15; DX 501, ¶ 53; Tr. IX (Reinhold) 16:14-23. 73. The WhenU Window is labeled as such. SaveNow ads display a green symbol in the corner of the window and the SaveNow designation. Tr. VII (Naider) 36:17-19. Save ads contain a bull’s eye and the “SAVE I” designation. Tr. VII (Naider) 46:14-18. 74. All SaveNow advertisements contain a notice stating: “This is a WhenU offer and is not sponsored or displayed by the website you are visitiny. More.... ” Tr. VII (Naider)' 36:19-23. When the consumer clicks on the word “More..a dialog box opens that contains information about SaveNow and a direct link to the “Frequently Asked Questions” page of WhenU’s website. Tr. VII (Naider) 38:2-39:7; DX 501, ¶ 48. 75. SaveNow advertisements also contain a “?” symbol in the corner, which is also a typical feature of a window in the Microsoft Windows operating system. Clicking on the “?” symbol opens the same window as when consumers click on the “More...” link described above. Tr. VII (Naider) 37:22-38:10; DX 501, ¶ 48. 76. SaveNow does not automatically cause any advertiser’s webpage to be displayed on a user’s desktop. After the WhenU advertisement is displayed, the user can elect to access the advertiser’s website by clicking on the WhenU Window. Tr. VII (Naider) 39:10-20. The user also can elect not to access the advertiser’s webpage, and can easily close the WhenU window or minimize it for later viewing. Tr. VII (Naider) 42:24^43:15; DX 501, ¶¶ 52-54. 77. A user who clicks on a SaveNow advertisement is taken to the advertiser’s webpage. Tr. VII (Naider) 39:10-20; DX 501, ¶ 52. A consumer who has accessed the advertiser’s webpage can return to the webpage that was previously on the user’s screen by clicking on the Internet browser’s “Back” button. Tr. V (Edelman) 12:16-21; Tr. VII (Naider) 39:21-40:6; DX 501, ¶ 52. This function will work even if the user is accessing a secure webpage at the time the advertisement is clicked. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 27:10-28:16. WhenU Advertisements Do Not Use Plaintiffs’ Trademarks 78. WhenU’s advertisements do not use the words “WELLS FARGO,” “WELLS FARGO ONLINE,” “QUICKEN LOANS,” or any other trademark registered to plaintiffs, in the advertisements themselves. DX 501, ¶ 32. 79. As discussed above, URLs are included in the Directory only to identify the website itself for the purpose of determining the interests of participating consumers. DX 501, ¶ 32. WhenU does not use any of plaintiffs’ trademarks to identify goods or services, to indicate any sponsorship or affiliation with the goods or services advertised by WhenU, or to identify the source or origin of any goods or services advertised by WhenU. 80. The use of keyword terms in connection with the delivery of advertisements is a common practice on the Internet, and is a source of revenue for search engines such as Google, and other Internet companies. DX 523, ¶¶ 54-56. WhenU Advertisements Do Not Appear “On” Plaintiffs’ Websites 81. Plaintiffs take the position that Sa-veNow advertisements appear “on” the plaintiffs’ websites. Such usage misconstrues the technical reality of the Internet. 82. A “website” is a series of related webpages, whose program code is located in separate, distinct servers controlled by the owners of the website. DX 523, ¶ 43; Tr. IV (Edelman) 108:8-11. When a user accesses a website, the website is not transferred to the user’s desktop. All that exists on the computer screen is an image generated by the user’s web browser based on instructions received from the text-based HTML code of the webpage. Tr. VIII (Reinhold) 130:8-23, 132:5-24; DX 523, ¶ 44. At that point, there is no connection between the individual user’s computer and the website. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 6:3-10. 83. Having caused the computer to display a page from one website, the user may request the computer to simultaneously display a page from a different website. The user will then have pages from two different websites on his desktop. If the user has called the second website page up in a new browser window, it will appear in front of the page from the first website and the only indication that the first website has been accessed will be the button on the user’s task bar. However, as discussed above, the user can easily size his browser windows to cause pages from both websites to appear on his screen, in windows that overlap or not, as the user chooses. Nothing that an individual does in the window displaying one website interferes with data transmitted to or from another website. Likewise, nothing that an individual does in a window displaying a different application (e.g., a word processing or instant messenger program) interferes with data transmitted to or from a website which the user has accessed. A website resides on its own servers where it is protected from tampering by “firewalls” and other Internet security procedures. DX 523, ¶¶ 42-43. 84. SaveNow interacts only with the web servers of WhenU or WhenU’s advertisers. Tr. VI (Edelman) 77:11-78:4; Tr. VII (Naider) 99:7-12. It has nothing to do with plaintiffs’ web servers. Tr. VIII (Naider) 13:21-14:25. As plaintiffs’ own expert acknowledged, SaveNow cannot and does not access the servers where plaintiffs’ websites are physically located. Tr. VI (Edelman) 77:11-78:4. 85. Defendant’s SaveNow software has no physical relationship to any other software application that may be open on a user’s desktop, including, but not limited to, windows in which images associated with plaintiffs’ websites are displayed. The fact that a window containing a Save-Now ad and the windows in which plaintiffs’ websites may be displayed may be visually stacked on top of each other on the user’s screen is purely a function of a computer’s graphical interface which is designed to make a computer “desktop” look and act like a real desk. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 15:15-21,16:1-17:5; DX 523, ¶¶ 41-47. WhenU Advertisements Do Not “Modify” Plaintiffs’ Websites 86. SaveNow does not transmit, display or reproduce images of plaintiffs’ websites. Tr. VII (Naider) 82:4-5. All SaveNow does is display an image of an advertisement which contains a link to a site designated by the advertiser. The participating consumer may access that site, if the consumer chooses, by clicking on the link embedded in the advertisement. Tr. VII (Naider) 39:10-20. 87. Plaintiffs contend that because the appearance of a SaveNow advertisement alters the current content of video memory, plaintiffs’ webpages are “modified” whenever a SaveNow ad appears while a user is also displaying one of their webpag-es. The Court rejects this contention. 88. Once a computer browser renders a webpage on a window, a copy of the HTML code file associated with that web-page is saved into the computer’s general random access memory or “RAM.” Tr. IX (Reinhold) 11:17-22. The RAM copy of the HTML file is used to help the computer instantly redisplay the webpage image in the event that some other window has subsequently obscured all or part of the webpage image. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 12:7-13:5. The appearance of a SaveNow ad does not interfere with the storage of another webpage’s HTML code in RAM memory or erase another webpage’s HTML code. Tr. VI (Edelman) 76:15-77:8, 80:22-81:3; Tr. IX (Reinhold) 15:15-21, 27:3-9. 89. In addition to ordinary RAM memory, a computer maintains a temporary form of memory called video memory that forms part of the computer’s display system. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 13:6-12. The video memory simply contains a pixel-by-pixel “snapshot” of whatever happens to be displayed on a computer screen at any given instant. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 13:17-25. 90. Plaintiffs contend that because the appearance of a SaveNow advertisement alters the current content of video memory, plaintiffs’ webpages are “modified” every time a SaveNow ad appears while a user is also displaying one of their webpag-es. However, these pixels are part of the user’s physical computer, and are not part of any webpage that the user might happen to be viewing at the time. Tr. VI (Edelman) 79:10-25. 91. Further, because the pixel display is the means by which any image on a computer screen is generated, whenever the display changes, there is a corresponding change in the content of video memory. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 14:1-10. Video memory is modified when a user opens a new application, receives an instant message, or uses his mouse to move the cursor across the screen. Tr. VI (Edelman) 78:5-79:9; Tr. IX (Reinhold) 14:21-15:9. As long as a user is actively using the computer, the content of video memory is altered and updated every l/70th of a second. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 14:21-15:9. Accordingly, the alteration of video memory is an ephemeral occurrence, and does not constitute a modification of the plaintiffs’ webpages. WhenU Advertisements Do Not “Frame” Plaintiffs’ Websites 92. The Court rejects the contention that SaveNow “frames” plaintiffs’ websites. 93. Framing occurs when one webpage displays the content of another webpage within its own borders. If the outer window is moved, the framed page moves with it simultaneously; if the outer window is closed or minimized, the framed page closes or minimizes as well. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 29:1-17. The purpose of framing is to create a single seamless presentation that integrates the content of the two web-pages into what appears to be single web-page. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 29:1-31:3. 94. SaveNow ads appear in entirely separate windows that can be moved independently without moving any other web-page, and can be closed without closing or in any way affecting any other webpage. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 29:18-30:21. Hence, Sa-veNow ads do not “frame” and are not “framed by” any other window, such as the window in which one of plaintiffs’ webpag-es might be displayed. WhenU Protects the Privacy and Security of Its Users 95. WhenU collects only the information necessary to run its system and to be able to compensate its partners and invoice its advertisers. Tr. VII (Naider) 76:4-11. This information consists of the URL, search term or keyword of the webpages that triggered the delivery of a WhenU advertisement, and whether the user clicked on the advertisement. Tr. VII (Naider) 75:19-76:3. This information is collected by WhenU on an aggregate basis and is not associated with an individual user or individual profile. Tr. VII (Naider) 76:17-77:20. WhenU does not collect a user’s “click stream data,” i.e., information concerning the history of webpages visited by the user. Tr. VII (Naider) 76:12-16, 83:18-84:23. Nor does "WhenU use cookies to track the activities of SaveNow users. DX 547; Tr. VII (Naider) 87:3-15; DX 547. 96. Like most entities that operate on the Internet, including Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans, WhenU uses the IP address of its users. The sole purpose of using the IP address is so that SaveNow can use the Internet to send ad display information to the WhenU servers. Tr. VII (Naider) 79:15-19. WhenU does not use IP addresses to identify individual users. Tr. VII (Naider) 80:21-28. 97. The Court additionally finds no support in the record for plaintiffs’ contention that WhenU somehow specifically targets “secure” webpages. Tr. VII (Naider) 102:1-18. Although it is possible to view a SaveNow advertisement while accessing a secure webpage, this does not disrupt the security of that webpage. A consumer who clicks on a SaveNow ad can easily return to the secure webpage that was previously on the user’s screen by clicking on the Internet browser’s “Back” button. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 27:10-28:16. It is also a standard feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system to provide a warning to users if they do something that would cause them to leave a secured webpage, giving the user the opportunity to cancel that decision. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 27:22-25; 28:10-16. Plaintiffs Have Failed To Submit Competent Evidence of Likelihood of Confusion from SaveNow Advertisements 98. Plaintiffs assert that a WhenU ad displayed on a computer screen at the same time as a consumer is viewing a page from one of their websites is inherently confusing to the consumer who, according to plaintiffs, believes it emanates from the plaintiffs’ websites. Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (“Plaintiffs’ P.I. Mem.”), pp. 6-7. However, plaintiffs have not presented any evidence of actual consumer confusion. 99. By contrast, there is good reason to believe that the typical SaveNow user would not perceive a WhenU advertisement as sponsored by or affiliated with the plaintiffs’ websites. First, SaveNow users are accustomed to receiving offers from WhenU while surfing the Web. DX 501, ¶ 46. For example, a SaveNow user shopping for a financial services online would be exposed to SaveNow ads for obvious competitors such as Ameriquest Mortgage (PX 125), Brown & Company (PX 130), and LowerMyBills.com (PX 135). It is therefore unlikely that they would suddenly think that a SaveNow Ameriquest Mortgage ad comes from Wells Fargo or Quicken Loans. DX 523, ¶ 50. Second, SaveNow ads are identified by WhenU, and bear a prominent notice and disclaimer stating that they come from ‘WhenU” and are “not sponsored or displayed by the website you are visiting.” Tr. IX (Reinhold) 25:5-20; 45:22-46:1. Third, SaveNow ads appear in a distinct window, bear all of the indicia of a distinct software application, and do not relate in any way to any other window on the user’s screen. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 16:12-17:5, 29:18-30:21. Internet users understand that different software applications run in different windows. Tr. IX (Reinhold) 16:1-11. 100. Plaintiffs argue that their customers are especially likely to be confused because they are “not particularly sophisticated.” Plaintiffs’ P.I. Mem., p. 14. However, plaintiffs have not supported that contention with evidence. To the contrary, Mr. Neal acknowledged that people who decide to obtain a mortgage online may be more knowledgeable about the Internet than ordinary users. Tr. Ill (Neal) 12:18-13:1. 101. In addition, consumers are likely to be attentive when attending to their financial affairs (Tr. II (Neal) 141:16— 142:4; Tr. TV (Jacoby) 21:7-19), and are especially attentive when obtaining a mortgage which is “for most people the largest financial decision they make.” Tr. I (Stapp) 141:16-19. See also Tr. I (Stapp) 141:23-142:14 (decision to obtain a mortgage involves study and research); Tr. Ill (Neal) 12:18-13:1 (the decision to obtain a mortgage is more significant in the life of a consumer than the decision to buy contact lenses). 102. The only evidence of potential consumer confusion presented by plaintiffs was the testimony of William Neal, whom plaintiffs offered as an expert in “consumer surveys [and] marketing research.” Tr. II (Neal) 86:24-87:1. Mr. Neal’s testimony was based on surveys he conducted for the plaintiff in: (a) Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive Co. (‘Washington Post”) v. The Gator Corp. (the “Gator Survey”), an action not involving WhenU, and (b) 1-800 Contacts, Inc. (“1-800”) v. WhenU, a lawsuit pending in the Southern District of New York (the “1-800 Survey”). See Tr. II (Neal) 88:3-8; PX158; PX 159. These plaintiffs were also represented by the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorneys who represent plaintiffs in this case. Tr. II (Neal) 130:3-22. 103. Plaintiffs did not explain why Mr. Neal did not prepare a new survey for this matter. The Gator Survey was conducted in early June 2002. Tr. II (Neal) 123:4-21. The 1-800 Survey, which was modeled on the Gator Survey, took all of 14 days to complete. Research involving the Internet may become obsolete in a matter of months. Tr. IV (Edelman) 100:1-12. See also Tr. VIII (Reinhold), 121:3-9 (Internet changes very rapidly). Mr. Neal’s testimony that the surveys’ results would not differ substantially if the data were collected today is based on speculation. Tr. Ill (Neal) 21:4-7. Indeed, Mr. Neal admitted that consumer perceptions of Internet advertising might have changed since he conducted the surveys, and that the only way to know for sure would have been by testing, which he did not do. Tr. Ill (Neal) 133:6-134:3. 104. Mr. Neal’s methodology was se-vérely criticized by defendant’s witness, Dr. Jacob Jacoby, an extremely well qualified expert in consumer behavior and research methodology. Mr. Neal Did Not Show the Survey Respondents Any WhenU Pop-Up Ads or Other Stimuli 105. One flaw in Mr. Neal’s methodology was his failure to show the respondents any demonstrative stimulus. Tr. II (Neal) 134:15-19; PX 158; PX 159. Mr. Neal did not show the 1-800 respondents an exemplar’ of a WhenU ad, nor did he ensure that the respondents had WhenU ads in mind— as opposed to pop-up ads generated by Gator, or a search engine or a commercial website. Mr. Neal did not do anything to find out whether his respondents were even familiar with SaveNow ads. Tr. II (Neal) 138:20-141:2. Indeed, Mr. Neal conceded that he did not know with any degree of scientific certainty whether any of the respondents had ever seen a Save-Now ad. Tr. II (Neal) 139:7-10. 106. In lieu of showing any actual ads, Mr. Neal provided a generic description of a pop-up ad at the beginning of the surveys. PX 158, Tab C; Tr. II (Neal) 136:8-10, 138:9-19. This description explained that pop-up advertisements (a) usually appear in the middle of the user’s screen, (b) partially block out the content of the underlying web page, (c) may automatically take the user to another web site, and (d) may not close when the user clicks the “x” in the upper right-hand corner. PX 158, Tab C & PX 159. The survey instructed respondents to use this description in answering the questions in the survey (PX 158, Ex. C, p. 31), and Mr. Neal conceded he intended respondents to think of pop-up ads in the manner that he described them for purposes of responding to the survey. Tr. Vol. II (Neal) 138:9-19. 107. As Mr. Neal conceded (Tr. II (Neal) 156:4-9), his definition does not describe the defendant’s advertisements. WhenU pop-up, or small format, advertisements appear in the bottom right-hand eorner of the screen (Tr. VI (Naider) 35:18-36:12) and do not necessarily block any webpage content. See, e.g., PX 128. More than half of WhenU advertisements are pop-under ads which do not appear on the user’s screen until after the browser window has been closed. Tr. VII (Naider) 44:11-45:17. WhenU ads do not take the user to another website without an affirmative click by the user (Tr. VIII (Naider) 108:3-5) and can always be closed by a click on the “x”. Tr. VI (Naider) 35:8-17. Mr. Neal conceded that a consumer might feel differently about a pop-up ad that automatically takes a consumer to another website (as he described) versus an ad that does not. Tr. II (Neal) 158:7-12. 108. The Court also rejects Mr. Neal’s effort to determine whether respondents were confused about the source of the ads based on their general recollection of pop-up ads they might have seen. Tr. II (Neal) 134:15-19, 135:24-136:10. As Dr. Jacoby testified, recall is used where the material issue is what the consumer remembers. The recall technique is not used to test confusion. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 31:19-34:4. 109. The Court also rejects Mr. Neal’s testimony that the sheer number of different SaveNow ads made it impossible to conduct a survey using actual SaveNow advertisements. Tr. III (Neal) 25:22-23:10. Mr. Neal could have used a sampling methodology to test a representative sample of WhenU advertisements, using any one of a variety of accepted scientific techniques. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 28:8-31:3. Mr. Neal’s explanation is further undercut by his concession that he would likely have used SaveNow ads in the 1-800 Survey had they been available to him. See PX 191 at 6. 110. Because Mr. Neal did not show the survey respondents WhenU ads, there is no way for anyone to know whether the respondents had WhenU ads in mind when they answered his questions. As Dr. Jaco-by testified: “There’s absolutely no scientific defensible foundation for concluding any WhenU advertising caused any of the data .... you can’t connect the dots.... ” Tr. IV (Jacoby) 34:5-11. The Survey’s Results Cannot Be Applied in This Case Because the Surveys Tested Universes of Respondents That Are Not Inclusive of the Relevant Universe in This Case 111. The surveys also do not provide reliable evidence of confusion because they did not sample the relevant universe of people who obtain mortgages or conduct banking services online (i.e., people who use or are likely to use plaintiffs’ websites). The results of a survey of contact lens users or a survey of readers of online periodicals cannot be extrapolated with accuracy to people who use or are likely to use plaintiffs’ online financial services. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 26:11-18. This is so even if all these people share similar demographic data. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 18:1-19:6. Of the approximately 156 million people who use the Internet, only 28 million shop for mortgages online. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 22:11-15. Furthermore, only 12-13% of consumers wear contact lenses. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 25:21-26:3. Given these statistics, there is no way to conclude that the contact lens wearing 1-800 respondents were also persons interested in obtaining mortgages online. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 19:7-12, 20:24 — 23:10, 25:19-17, 26:11-18. 112. Moreover, people conducting banking transactions or purchasing mortgages are more likely to pay careful attention than people buying contact lenses or perusing a periodical. Tr. II (Neal) 141:16-142:4; Tr. IV (Jacoby) 21:7-19. A meaningful survey must take into account not only the respondents’ demographic characteristics, but also what they are doing at the time' because consumers make decisions of different import with different mindsets. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 20:24-21:19. 113. Mr. Neal’s opinion that he could extrapolate the results of his previous surveys to users of online financial services does not appear to be well founded. Indeed, Mr. Neal acknowledged that there was no empirical evidence that supports his conclusion that the Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans website user populations are the same as the populations he developed for the 1-800 and Gator Surveys. Tr. Ill (Neal) 14:12-18. Mr. Neal’s Survey Questions Were Biased 114. Mr. Neal’s surveys also are unreliable because he used leading questions that may have skewed the survey results. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 34:12-24. 115. For example, Mr. Neal improperly told respondents that pop up ads appear “on” a website, thus suggesting the association he was trying to establish. Moreover, Mr. Neal admitted that some of his questions were biased. For example, Mr. Neal admitted that Question 10 (“Do you believe that WhenU.com was honest in informing you about what SaveNow software did?”) was a “loaded question” because of the suggestive nature of the word “honest.” PX 191 at p. 30; Tr. II (Neal) 166:8-167:7. Mr. Neal further admitted that, when he prepared the questionnaire, he was aware that his use of the word “honest” violated the standard rules of framing survey questionnaires. Tr. II (Neal) 167:3-12. See also Tr. II (Neal) 165:20-25. Mr. Neal Did Not Rule Out Obvious Alternative Explanations and Made Unsupported Analytical Leaps 116. Mr. Neal’s analysis of the survey data was flawed in other respects. For example, Mr. Neal concluded that 60% of respondents believed “pop-up ads are placed on the website on which they appear by the owners of that web site” (PX 110, ¶ 6(e)), relying on Question 4-1, which required respondents to agree, disagree or state no opinion as to the statement: “I believe that pop-up advertisements are placed on the website on which they appear by the owners of the website.” PX 158, Tab C, p. 32; Tr. II (Neal) 168:3-5. If the respondent indicated that he or she agreed, Mr. Neal interpreted that to mean the respondent believed that pop-up ads are always placed “on the website ... by the owners of that website”. Tr. II (Neal) 167:14-169:24. Mr. Neal testified that respondents who believed that pop-up ads were sometimes displayed by website owners and sometimes not displayed by the website owners would not have answered “Agree,” but rather said they had “no opinion.” Tr. II (Neal) 168:6-169:19. He also failed to consider obvious alternative explanations for his results. 117. Mr. Neal’s testimony is counter-intuitive. A respondent who believed that some pop-up ads are displayed by website owners clearly had an opinion with respect to Q4.1. Moreover, the only evidence related to Mr. Neal’s assumption that “Agree” meant “always agree” demonstrates that the assumption is wrong. In response to Question 4-4 of the Gator Survey (“I believe that ‘Pop-Up’ advertisements are sponsored by the website on which they appear”) more than 66% “Agreed.” Under Mr. Neal’s interpretation, this meant that 66% of the Gator respondents thought that pop-up ads are always sponsored by “the website on which they appear.” However, in the next question of that survey, Mr. Neal posed the opposite question, “I believe that ‘Pop-up’ advertisements are sometimes not sponsored by or authorized by the website on which they appear.” If, as Mr. Neal believes, the 66% who agreed with Question 4-4 believed that pop-up ads are always “placed on the website ... by the owners of that website,” then a maximum of 34% of these respondents could possibly have agreed with Question 4-5, that pop-up ads are only sometimes not sponsored by the website owner. Tr. II (Neal) 172:9-173:14. However, 47% of respondents agreed with Q 4-5. This data indicates an error in Mr. Neal’s reasoning. 118. By failing to consider and account for these and other alternative explanations for his results, Mr. Neal violated basic standards of scientific practice and rendered his results unreliable. Tr. IV (Ja-coby) 42:1-43:4. The Survey Was Not Properly Administered, Did Not Contain Control Questions to Generate an Error Rate, and Employed a Design that Rendered the Results Uninterpretable 119. Mr. Neal failed to employ an experimental design that established causation. As Dr. Jacoby testified, unless a control group is used to account for the effects of “noise,” i.e., extrinsic factors such as pre-existing beliefs other than the stimulus at issue that could contribute to a survey’s results, the survey’s results are uninterpretable. Mr. Neal acknowledged that he did not use a true control group (Tr. II (Neal) 92:17-21) and that, as a result, his conclusions only had a 51% certainty level. Tr. Ill (Neal) 24:6-25:8. While Mr. Neal asserted that a certainty level of 51% is all that can be achieved in the social sciences (Tr. Ill (Neal) 23:13-24), his testimony is contradicted by Dr. Jacoby, who testified that the certainty level required in the social sciences is at least 95% (Tr. TV (Jacoby) 52:25-54:14), and who provided an example of the kind of survey design that could have been employed to establish causation. Tr. IV (Ja-coby) 52:25-54:14. 120. Other problems with Mr. Neal’s survey include: (a) the use of an Internet panel (Tr. IV (Jacoby) 45:13-47:7); (b) the failure to use standard procedures to avoid yea saying (Tr. IV (Jacoby) 36:24-39:20); (e) the use of compound questions (Tr. IV (Jacoby) 37:5-6); (d) the failure to correct for possible error through the use of control or filter questions (for example, by testing response rates to questions about fictional computer programs) (Tr. IV (Ja-coby) 43:8-44:21); and (e) the failure to provide an independent check on respondents’ understanding of the questions through the use of an in-person interviewer or administrator. Tr. IV (Jacoby) 43:25-44:3, 45:17-46:4. Plaintiffs Have Not Shown Irreparable Harm 121. Plaintiffs assert that WhenU advertisements cause them irreparable harm by imposing non-compensable reputational injury on their marks. However, plaintiffs have failed to come forward with concrete evidence of even a single customer or potential customer who failed to purchase products or services from them because of WhenU. 122. Quicken Loans knew everything it needed to know to commence an action against WhenU by November 2002, and Wells Fargo knew everything it needed to know by December 2002. Indeed, Wells Fargo had prepared screen shots of Save-Now for use in litigation as early as November 2002 (Complaint, ¶ 2); Quicken Loans prepared similar screen shots as early as September 2002. PX 136. Nonetheless, this motion was not filed until May 20, 2003. The dilatory behavior of the plaintiffs in prosecuting their claims, and their strategic decision to defer a trademark case while they fulfilled the jurisdictional requirements for a copyright claim, are inconsistent with a finding that WhenU’s ads are causing the plaintiffs’ irreparable injury. WhenU Does Not Link to Plaintiffs’ Websites 123. Plaintiffs further contend that WhenU’s advertising injures them because it puts them at risk with their regulators. Specifically, plaintiffs have proffered certain federal banking regulations relating to weblinking, and suggested that these regulations apply to WhenU’s advertisements. However, plaintiffs have offered no competent testimony to that effect and a simple reading of the alleged regulations on which plaintiffs rely shows that they are concerned only with federal banks which employ “weblinking” with various websites and with which they have “joint marketing relationships.” See, e.g., Electronic Activities, 67 F. Reg. 34, 992 at 35,002 (May 17, 2002). 124. The SaveNow software does not link to any website other than the websites of WhenU and WhenU’s advertisers and WhenU has no co-branding relationships with any banks. Tr. VIII (Naider) 107:19-108:2. No regulatory agency has ever approached WhenU to express concerns about the effects of WhenU software on the regulation of banks or financial services companies. Tr. VIII (Naider) 108:6-13. Indeed, plaintiffs have failed to proffer any evidence that federal regulators have ever inquired about or expressed concerns about WhenU or WhenU advertising. Plaintiff Quicken Loans Has Actually Benefitted from SaveNow 125. Although plaintiffs both assert having been harmed by SaveNow, Quicken Loans has actually benefitted from WhenU advertising. 126. The Quicken Loans website is part of the overall Quicken.com website. The Quicken.com website is owned by Intuit, which owns TurboTax and other entities. DX 554; Tr. I (Stapp) 76:22-25, 109:5-24. Quicken Loans r