Google favoured in trademark dispute

Google has received encouraging news in its long-running legal battle over whether its AdWords service infringes trademark rights.

The AdWords service allows advertisers to purchase the right to have their advert displayed when certain keywords are typed into the Google search engine.

Louis Vuitton complained that adverts for counterfeit items popped up when internet users searched for the company, which infringed their trademark rights.

The resulting case was referred to the European Court of Justice.
Delivering his opinion in the joined cases of C-236/08, C-237/08 and C- 238/08, Advocate General Poiares Maduro said Google did not infringe anyone’s trademark rights by selling keywords corresponding to those trademarks.

An advocate general’s opinion is not legally binding on the court, but is usually followed.

Maduro said: “The question, as put to the court, is whether the use of a keyword which corresponds to a trade mark can, in itself, be regarded as a use of that trade mark which is subject to the consent of its proprietor.”

On whether an infringement had taken place, he said: “Trade mark proprietors have no legal problem in tackling counterfeit sites, as such sites are clearly involved in trade mark infringements; however, the practical difficulties of doing so should not be ignored.”