GOOGLE TRADE MARK TRIUMPH

Findlaw reports that Google has just won the case against it brought by Geico. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has said that Google’s Adsense program does not infringe trade mark law as there is no confusion of consumers. The program works by allowing third parties to bid for other peoples’ trade marks, so that those third parties’ advertisements will appear as sponsored links when the trade mark is used by consumers as a search term. However, the case is continuing with regard to the use of trade marks in the actual advertisements and pop-up advertisements.



The IPKat wonders whether, had this case been brought in the EU, Google would have been stopped under the unfair advantage of distinctive character head of trade mark infringement.



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