How not to buy a fake

A legal ruling on Google’s advertising practice has both the Internet giant and a commercial plaintiff claiming victory.
The European Court of Justice has said Google did not infringe trademark law by selling keywords to trigger ads, informs  Euronews. International luxury French fashion house Louis Vuitton and others had said the practice undermined their brands. The high status goods purveyor welcomed the court’s decision as firmly establishing the liability of advertisers.
LVMH Vice-President Pierre Godй said: “It’s fantastic progress. Google argued it was perfectly all right for the advertiser  to buy [a keyword] without being responsible to brands owned by others. The court decided to the contrary.”
The court said advertisers were free to buy keywords identical to trademarks of rivals as long as the ads were clear about  where the product came from. Google counsel had said trademark rights are not absolute.

24.03.10