14 DAY TRIAL // A case watched closely by online advertisers worldwide came to a conclusion today, as the European Court of Justice found that Google didn't infringe on other companies' rights by allowing competitors to bid on trademarked keywords. The court, however, left it to individual countries to decide on the matter and possibly apply stricter rules. Both Google and the LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) luxury-good company, two of the parties involved, have declared victory in the case.
"Today, the Court confirmed that Google has not infringed trade mark law by allowing advertisers to bid for keywords corresponding to their competitors’ trade marks. It also confirmed that European law that protects internet hosting services applies to Google’s AdWords advertising system. This is important because it is a fundamental principle behind the free flow of information over the internet," Dr. Harjinder S. Obhi, senior litigation counsel at Google for the EMEA region, wrote.
By Google's account, everything went its way and the company is now in the clear for its practices. In the blog post saluting the decision, Google says allowing competitors to bid on trademarked keywords only provides users with more information and a more informed choice. At the same time, it states that this has nothing to do with counterfeit goods, part of the reason why LVMH filed the original lawsuit in France, and that this matter is dealt with by other means.
However, LVMH seems to have been at another court ruling altogether and claims victory in the case. "The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice today ruled that an online advertiser cannot use a registered trademark as a keyword without the consent of the trademark owner. The Court further denied the provider of an online paid referencing service the liability exemption for hosting," its press release read, at first glance, pretty much being the exact opposite of what Google is saying.
Howerver, LVHM is just trying to make the ruling look favorable for itself by a clever use of words. In fact, the court hasn't ruled against Google, but has said that companies may have the right to ask it to remove trademarked keywords, yet only if the national courts agree. "Google has not infringed trademark law by allowing advertisers to purchase keywords corresponding to their competitors' trademarks," the European Court of Justice said in a statement.