Legal > Legal: Trademarks
Aug. 18, 2008 at 11:09am by Eric Enge
Using Competitive Intelligence To Protect Your Brand
Protecting your brand online is an ongoing activity. It requires hard work and due diligence. One area of concern is when others bid on your brand, or use your brand name in their ads. My current understanding of Google's policy is that it's OK to bid on a competitive...
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Jul. 21, 2008 at 8:33am by Barry Schwartz
American Airlines And Google Settle Keyword Lawsuit
American Airlines Drops Google Trademark Lawsuit from Bloomberg reports that the two sides have settled the search ad legal dispute. Each side has agreed to pay their own legal fees and the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. American Airlines sued Google about a year ago over trademark infringement...
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Jun. 30, 2008 at 8:05am by Barry Schwartz
Competitors Taking Action Against Competitors For Search Ad Trademark Infringement
Search ads trigger trademark lawsuit from rival from News.com reports on another search ad trademark lawsuit. This one differs in that the plaintiff is not suing a search engine, but rather suing his competitor. NameSafe sued LifeLock for allegedly allowing one of their resellers to show search ads with NameSafe's...
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Jun. 4, 2008 at 12:20pm by Greg Sterling
Louis Vuitton Offers Google More Trademark Trouble In Europe
Even as Google is liberalizing its trademark policy in Europe to agree with the US policy, luxury goods maker Luis Vuitton may turn back the clock and force a more restrictive policy on Google. France's highest court ruled for Louis Vuitton last year in a trademark case involving AdWords. Google...
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May. 23, 2008 at 5:12pm by Greg Sterling
Search Biz: Where's Eurekster?, Grab Google's Gazillions?, WiFi "On Steriods," & Yahoo Readies For Proxy Battle
Google’s recent decision to make its UK keyword bidding policy conform with the US practice of allowing competitors to bid on each other’s brands has drawn ire and threats of legal action. Today brings more such news of potential legal action against Google from a range of travel companies and...
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May. 5, 2008 at 11:10am by Greg Sterling
Changes To Google UK Trademark Policy May Result In Lawsuits
In the US marketers may use competitors' trademarks as keywords, so long as they don't appear in the ad text itself. Previously Google used a more restrictive policy in the UK, not allowing use of competitors' trademarks at all. Last month the company changed its UK rules to conform to...
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Apr. 28, 2008 at 8:43am by Barry Schwartz
US Court Orders Advertiser To Use Negative Keywords In Trademark Case
Eric Goldman reports that a US District Judge in Florida ordered an advertiser using a trademark term to use the negative keyword option, to ensure that they would no longer bid on that term in the future. The judge ordered the defendant to stop using the word "ORION" in their...
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Apr. 25, 2008 at 8:31am by Barry Schwartz
US Court Learns SEO, Decides META Keywords Don't Matter
Court Says Keyword Metatags Don't Matter--Standard Process v. Banks by Eric Goldman uncovers a recent case between Standard Process, Inc. v. Banks that shows that the court has ruled that the META keywords tag is "immaterial." Goldman said this is the first time the courts ruled based on knowledge of...
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Apr. 8, 2008 at 4:14pm by Barry Schwartz
US Court Rules Trademarks In Meta Tags Can Constitute Infringement
Eric Goldman reports that an 11th circuit, US Court of Appeals has upheld a district court's decision that the use of trademarked terms in meta tags can cause confusion and thus can constitute trademark infringement. North American Medical Corp. v. Axiom Worldwide, Inc. docket number 06-01678 CV-JTC-1 (PDF) doesn't specifically...
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Apr. 4, 2008 at 8:34am by Barry Schwartz
Google To Allow Bidding On Keyword Trademarks In UK
The UK PPC Blog tipped me off to Google announcing that the UK AdWords trademark policy has been changed to work like the US AdWords trademark policy. What this means is that UK advertisers can now bid on trademark terms. Earlier, those trademarked terms were blocked from bidding on within...
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Mar. 24, 2008 at 9:08am by Barry Schwartz
Court: Use Of Trademark In AdWords Copy Is An Infringement
Eric Goldman commented on a case between one advertiser using another advertiser's trademark in Google AdWords. The court has made a decision (PDF), ruling for the plaintiff, Storus, who sued Aroa for using their trademark in the AdWords title text. Eric Goldman said this is one of the first times...
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Mar. 7, 2008 at 2:33pm by Barry Schwartz
Utah Neuters Search Ad Trademark Keyword Law
The Google Public Policy Blog informed us that Utah has changed the law that restricted search engines from triggering ads based on trademarked terms. This reversal now puts Utah in sync with the precedent set forth by the federal trademark law. In short, you can now legally bid on trademarked...
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Nov. 21, 2007 at 8:06am by Chris Silver Smith
Google On Everyone's Lips: A Trademark Nightmare?
So, I got this Google-branded lip balm from the Google Store. I couldn't resist it—it just seemed like such a kooky thing for them to brand. After getting it, I feel like Google might be approaching some sort of critical mass, and that they could be in danger of losing...
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Nov. 16, 2007 at 9:39am by Barry Schwartz
Google To Defend Against "Selling Top Spot" In June 2008
Australian court sets June date for Google case from Reuters updates us on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) suit against Google. The Australian watchdog sued Google over deceptive search ads back in July of this year. They then went to court to have their case adjourned to October...
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Nov. 12, 2007 at 10:24am by Barry Schwartz
Google Won't Hand Over Competitive Data If Hit With Subpoena
Eric Goldman has updated us on the ongoing Connor Sport Court and Rhino Court case involving Google. The case, which we covered in Want Competitive Keyword Information? Just Subpoena Google!, suggested that Google was going to hand over competitive keyword data simply because one company filed a subpoena for it....
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Oct. 26, 2007 at 8:13am by Barry Schwartz
Judge Rejects Google's Motion To Dismiss American Airlines Suit
Eric Goldman reports Judge John McBride has denied Google's motion to dismiss the American Airlines search ad trademark suit. The court document does not explain why the judge denied Google's motion. All it says is that he dismissed the motion. Eric Goldman feels that taking this case to court will...
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Oct. 19, 2007 at 8:28am by Barry Schwartz
Viacom May Want To Work With Google In Future
Viacom could work with Google in future: CEO from Reuters reports Philippe Dauman, Viacom's CEO, as saying "I suspect at some point in the future we'll work with Google." He made that statement Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco even after Viacom claimed they would still continue their legal action...
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Oct. 18, 2007 at 9:01am by Barry Schwartz
Viacom Will Still Sue Google, Despite YouTube Piracy Filter
Viacom Says The Google Suit Is Still On from MediaPost reports that Viacom will continue its $1 billion suit over alleged copyright infringement on YouTube, even after Google launched its new YouTube piracy filter this week. Viacom spokesman Jeremy Zweig said the video identification tool "doesn't have any impact" on...
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Oct. 15, 2007 at 3:52pm by Barry Schwartz
Google to Launch YouTube Piracy Filter Today
Google Begins Offering New YouTube Piracy Fighter from CNNMoney reports Google will be announcing their YouTube video ID tool to help prevent content piracy, as soon as today. The source of this information has not been disclosed, nor have any additional details. The source did say that Google would provide...
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Oct. 3, 2007 at 9:06am by Barry Schwartz
Google Ordered To Pay $14,000 In Germany Over Gmail Trademark
Google fined in German Gmail trademark case from News.com reports Google was ordered by a German court to pay $14,000 over using m.gmail.com for their mobile Gmail users. As we know, Google lost the Gmail trademark case in Germany and was ordered to stop using Gmail.com. It appears that Google...
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Sep. 24, 2007 at 10:25am by Barry Schwartz
Google Asks Judge To Deny Boarding To American Airlines Lawsuit
Google seeks dismissal of American Airlines suit from Dallas Business Journal reports that Google has filed a motion to dismiss the American Airlines vs. Google trademark case. In that case, American Airlines sued Google for allowing advertisers to bid on their trademark names. Gary Price located the motion to dismiss...
