For those interested in legal cyberspace laws, and
google, I think the interesting one is about the use of trademarked and copyrighted terms in Adwords.
http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3354411There have been several cases already in the USA, but the court decisions so far have been ambiguous. 4 cases consider that the use of a competitor name
is illegal, and 2 found that it is legal so far. So it is a mess.
The big pending case is American Blinds (plaintiff) versus Google.
The issue is whether you can legally use a competitor brand name e.g. "Coca Cola" to find buyers on Google for your competitive product.
So when you search on "Coca Cola" should the user be shown an advert from Pepsi? It revolves around something called the Lanham Trademark Act.
QUOTE
[20] Under the Lanham Act, “any person who shall, without the consent of
the registrant use in commerce any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or
colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale,
offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services on or
in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause
mistake, or to deceive� can be found liable for trademark infringement.48
QUOTE
The Lanham Act also affords protection to unregistered trademarks,
imposing liability for unfair competition where a person uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or
device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation
of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or
misleading representation of fact which . . . is likely to
cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the
affiliation, connection, or association of such person
without another person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or
approval of his or her goods, services, or commercial
activities by another . ...50
My guess is that the law will find AGAINST google, but the main case is due for jury trial in November this year,
and of course could settle out of court before that time.
