Judge Refuses To Dismiss Google AdWords Trademark Suit

A thread at Webmasterworld Forums informs that US District Court Judge, Jeremy Fogel, has refused to reject the lawsuit filed against Google that charges the web search leader's AdWords program abuses trademarks. In his judgment, the judge said that, the public has an interest in whether AdWords, the company's popular pay-per-click advertising system, violates US trademark law or not.

American Blind & Wallpaper Factory, the top US reseller of window blinds, had filed the suit against Google. In its lawsuit the company charged that Google abuses company trademarks by allowing rivals to buy ads for copyrighted terms related to their business.

Some claims were granted, but the Judge rejected the plea to dismiss American Blind's trademark infringement claims against Google's AdWords ad-selling program. In his judgment, Judge Frogel wrote, “The large number of businesses and users affected by Google's AdWords program indicates that a significant public interest exists in determining whether the AdWords program violates trademark law."

Prior to this, auto insurer Geico and computer repair site, Rescue.com also had field a case against Google and in both the cases Google had emerged victories. Rescue.com is appealing against the judgement.

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