Google Victory In American Blinds Settlement Over Trademark-Triggered Search Ads

Sep 3, 2007 at 3:04pm ET by Danny Sullivan

One of the oldest outstanding trademark-infringement lawsuits filed against Google over search ads — that by American Blinds & Wallpaper — has been settled in what I’d agree with legal analyst Eric Goldman in calling a stunning victory for Google. Google has to pay nothing and change nothing to see the case disappear.

Eric has posted the eight-page settlement here (PDF format). It provides that American Blinds will not seek to sue Google as long as it maintains its existing

policy that bars trademarks from ad copy. Eric also notes that American Blinds previously has had to pay Google $15,000 over concerns about evidence discovery and destruction.

What about all those other cases over the years? See my freshly-minted post, Paid Search Ads & Trademarks: A Review Of Court Cases, Legal Disputes & Policies that fills you in.

Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series, maintains a personal blog called Daggle and can be followed on Twitter here.

See more articles by Danny Sullivan >

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