Google and Keyword Trademark Issue

2009-05-14 19:47:57 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - News, Technology)

A lawsuit has been filed against Google over keyword trademark infringement

The company is being sued over the use of ad keywords.

Wired PR News – A lawsuit has been filed against Google over the sale of ad keywords. As reported by CNET News, the suit was brought early this week in Texas by Firepond to decipher whether Google could sell keywords to companies that are trademarks of their competitors.

As noted in the report, another company Rescuecom has brought a similar lawsuit against Google as well. The two companies are alleging that Google’s policies enable infringement on trademarks by allowing companies to promote themselves using the trademarks of their competitors, citing keywords are a part of company brands.

In regards to their AdWords policies, Google is quoted in the report as stating, “Accordingly, our trademark policy not to monitor the use of trademarks in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Ireland aims to provide users with choices relevant to their keywords. At the same time, we investigate trademark violations in ad text both as a courtesy to the trademark owner and to ensure that ads are clear to users.”