ECJ to rule on Google AdWords

The European Court of Justice is considering whether the purchase of registered trade marks as Google AdWords can constitute trade mark infringement. In May 2008, Google changed its policy in the UK and Ireland so that third parties could bid for keywords registered as trade marks. Marks & Spencer, whose flower delivery service competes with Interflora, purchased “Interflora” and other close variants of the word. Interflora complained. The High Court has referred the question to the European Court of Justice. Six cases on the subject of Google keywords and trade mark infringement have now been referred to the court from around Europe.