EU Court Ruling Allows Advertisers To Bid On Trademark Keywords
A recent European court ruling concerning advertisers using competitor’s trademark keywords in Google AdWords will have far reaching implications for online advertising, and by extension affiliate marketing.
The EU Court of Justice (Europe’s highest legal authority) ruled that companies using competitors’ names as Internet advertising keywords are not infringing European trademark laws. It further allowed that customers of Google’s paid-for Adwords service may choose whichever words they want, within reason, without infringing trademark law.
You can read more details about the case and its effects here:
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=B1FB02FD-1A64-67EA-E4153A0926DAC5EF
A similar ruling was also recently handed down in a Canadian BC (British Columbia) Court:
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5104/135/
The decision means the Courts are taking a more laissez-faire approach to the issue, allowing advertisers to duke it out in the PCC world, but ultimately putting the onus on consumers to an independent and informed choice about the ads they click on and the products they buy online.
What do you think about the ruling? Drop a comment and let us know!
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