A software company has taken action against Google for trade mark infringement relating to Google AdWords campaigns.
It is claimed that Google are infringing trade mark law by allowing users (other than the trade mark owner) to bid and purchase AdWords.
The legal papers are reported to say:
“As a result of Google’s actions, these customers now see displayed only the advertisements and websites of third parties, including competitors of [software company] that continue to make unauthorized use of [software company’s] trademarks,”.
This is certainly an important test case and one that the trade mark world has been waiting for. The decision (should it get that far) will be widely anticipated.