9 April 2008
Shortly after Google made its controversial announcement regarding Adwords and the new trademark policy, an American lawsuit has threatened to undermine its position.
Rescuecom, a computer repair company is sueing Google for allowing its competitors to purchase adverts that appear when somebody searches for "rescuecom", a trademark.
Trade marking is set in place to prevent other companies from trading falsely under the brand of another company, in this situation the issue is whether the fact competitors are bidding on the trademarked keyword is going to cause confusion in the marketplace.
So far any decision is evenly divided on the case but nothing has been dismissed. Should Google lose they may have to completely revise their policy.
According to Ars Technica, a source of IT news:
If Google's lower-court victory is upheld, it could have significant implications for the future of online trademark law. It would reinforce the WhenU precedent and could prompt other circuits to reconsider their own rulings, which have been more favourable to such trademark claims.
On the other hand, if Google loses, the case would go back to the lower court for a trial and would probably find its way back to the Second Circuit after the trial was completed. In that case, the controversy could easily drag on for the rest of the decade.
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