Google Loses Trademark Infringement Case in Europe
Google loses French court appeal
Google is one of the world's most popular search engines Internet search engine Google has lost its appeal against a court ruling over trademark infringement brought about by two French travel companies.
Google must now pay 75,000 euros ($100,300; £52,000) in damages and costs to Luteciel and Viaticum. A lawsuit was filed after Google users searching for the two French companies found themselves directed instead to rival sponsored links.
Google's failure to follow an order quickly enough triggered the fine. In October 2003, the French courts told the search engine to stop displaying rival sponsored links. The court said that Google AdWords had been guilty of "trademark counterfeiting".
Companies pay to have their websites linked to particular terms on Google. Under current Google policy, if it is judged that an advertiser uses a trademarked term as a "keyword trigger", those words are taken out of its campaign.
However, the Google AdWords still does not offer upfront protections against potential AdWords sponsors creating Pay Per Click advertising accounts intended to sponsor and advertise on established trademark terms.
This ruling could set precedent and lead to hundreds of trademark infringement judgments against Google AdWords in the European courts.
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