Trademark Keyword Suit Will Go to Trial, Judge Rules

A U.S. judge has refused to dismiss a long-standing suit against Google’s use of trademarked terms as keyword triggers for delivering pay-per-click ads in search results.

U.S. District Court judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that the lawsuit brought in January 2004 by American Blind & Wallpaper Factory can move forward.

American Blind’s suit alleges that Google’s AdWords program allowing rival advertisers to bid on and deliver ads against a company’s trademarks — including its brand name — constitutes abuse of those marks.

Google had requested a summary dismissal of the suit in the Northern District of California, in the hope of a quick favorable judgment.

But Judge Fogel said the issue of possible trademark infringement in Google’s keyword policies deserved a hearing in court.

“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,” Fogel wrote in his decision.

A Google spokesman pointed out that the Fogel did allow Google’s contention that American Blind had not proven two of the terms in question were protectable marks. Google is pressing in another federal court in the same district for sanctions against American Blind for failure to disclose key evidence.