American Airlines Fights Google Over Keywords

Posted on | August 20, 2007 | Comments Off

American isn’t thrilled that competitors and travel sites can bid on its company name as a keyword. Though the competitor-keyword argument has been made before, this may be a first where the plaintiff cites online retailers selling competitor wares.

It would appear, if the suit were successful, Coke could sue television stations advertising that 7-11 sells Pepsi too.

American complains that competitor keyword bidding and the ad display associated with the keywords are tantamount to getting a “free ride on American Airlines’ brands through use of Google’s technology,” and that Google is guilty of “vicarious trademark infringement.”

In the 55 page compliant, American asserts that “Google’s ‘Sponsored Links’ may instead redirect [searchers] to: (i) websites of airlines that compete with American Airlines; (ii) websites that sell air travel not only on American Airlines, but also on a variety of airlines that compete with American Airlines; or (iii) websites that are entirely unrelated air travel.”

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