Judge Rules Google AdWords Do Not Infringe

A federal judge has ruled that Google's AdWords program does not infringe on trademarks owned by language learning company Rosetta Stone. ...
Judge Rules Google AdWords Do Not Infringe
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  • A federal judge has ruled that Google’s AdWords program does not infringe on trademarks owned by language learning company Rosetta Stone.

    Judge-Lee "No reasonable trier of fact could find that Google’s practice of auctioning Rosetta Stone’s trademarks as keyword triggers to third party advertisers creates a likelihood of confusion as to the source or origin of Rosetta Stone’s products," U.S. District court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in Alexandria, Va. Wrote.

    In its lawsuit, filed in July 2009, Rosetta Stone alleged that Google allowed third parties including individuals involved in software piracy to purchase the right to use Rosetta Stone trademarks or other terms confusingly similar in Google’s AdWords advertising program.

    Lee wrote consumers awareness of Rosetta Stone’s brand ""has only increased since Google changed its trademark policy to permit the use of trademarked terms as keyword triggers and as words within sponsored link titles and advertisement text."

    " In simplified terms, Google’s popular search engine aggregates information and provides advertising space. This is akin to a newspaper or magazine selling advertising space," he wrote.

    "To attract advertisers, Google created a system for displaying advertisements that would be economically profitable for its company and paid advertisers."
     

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