Google & Trademarks

Google & Trademarks
Google is now involved in a long running legal issue which is sure to stir up some emotion over web advertising.

I’m not talking about the Florida Update, although it did stir a lot of emotion and even more lost sleep than the average Google Dance. I’m referring to the issue of copyrighted or trademarked phrases which could be purchased for advertising purposes.

Google has gone down this path before, as most PPC players have, but in this case they have chosen to ask the courts guidance in determining if a generic term (in this case “American Blind”) could be protected under trademark law.

The questions here are many. For example, should a competitor be able to profit from the use of the term “American Blind” even though it is protected by trademark? Should a company like Michigan based “American Blind & Wallpaper Factory” be able to have the power to block online advertising for such phrases, or even phrases similarly worded?

Can companies like Kimberly Clark (maker of the brand Kleenex) be able to stop advertisers from using the phrase “Kleenex” in their ads even though it’s such a generic phrase that commonly is used by the general public to refer to facial tissue?

Legally, Kimberly Clark should be able to protect its product and prevent its competitors from profiting from using the brand. In fact, outside of the web many companies have successfully sued competitors and others who have used trademarked phrases or images and profited from them.

It is an interesting case, given that Google is involved, when not so long ago they quietly fought to keep the name “Google” out of the dictionary. Google didn’t like the idea of themselves formally becoming part of the English language (as in by using the search engine to check up on some on you “Googled” them), so their lawyers quietly asked the site that proposed the change to request that the proposal be removed.

It almost appears as if there is some kind of double standards here. If Google doesn’t want to become a household term for using a search engine then there shouldn’t really be an issue here. They should simply not allow competitors to use trademarked phrases in their ads.

Author Bio:
Rob Sullivan
Production Manager
Searchengineposition.com
Search Engine Positioning Specialists