WebProNews

A legal complaint from the auto insurance company about AdWords practices has ended in a settlement.

"Hey Sergey, did you bring the cake for Google's seventh birthday?"

"No Larry, but I've got great news! We just saved a bundle on legal fees by settling with Geico!" (The previous statements were fictional. No Google founders were harmed in the writing of this story. Happy birthday, Google!)

The trademark infringement case pitting Geico, a unit of Bill Gates's bridge partner Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, against search engine company Google, has ended with an undisclosed settlement.

Geico was highly displeased with seeing competitors advertisements appear on Google when users searched for Geico. Competitors purchased Geico as an AdWords keyword, causing their ads to appear.

In May 2004, Geico sued in federal court and sought to have Google barred from allowing advertisers to purchase trademarks. A ruling against Google would have gutted their revenue stream, as Reuters notes.

The settlement was reached in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Geico said in a report the suit "has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties." Google has not yet commented on the confidential settlement, and Geico will not comment further, pursuant to terms of the agreement.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.