New Trademark Lawsuit Involving Search Marketing

Adding on to the number of lawsuits involving search ads, 1-800-Contacts has recently filed a lawsuit in federal court against LensWorld for purchasing search links triggered by the term "1-800-contacts." The company which has since brought up several other similar cases, says it's trying to guard against confusion which might lead consumers into thinking there is an affiliation between 1-800-Contacts and these other companies.



1-800-Contacts, whose headquarters are resided in Draper, Utah, is among several other Utah lawsuits filed lately involving the use of trademarked terms in online advertising such as search ads. Last year, Utah passed a legislation that makes it illegal to use other companies' trademarked terms to trigger ads, but this law has yet to take effect.



1-800-Contacts has lost a related case in 2005, when a federal appellate court ruled that the retailer's competitors could legally serve pop-up ads to consumers who had typed "1800contacts" into their internet browsers.



In 2004, Google prevailed over insurance Giant Gecico after trial when a federal district court judge ruled that Geico hadn't prove that consumers were confused when they were shown links to Geico's competitors after typing "Gecio" into the search box.



Google also won a major case brought up by computer repair company, Rescuecom in 2006 when a federal district court dismissed the case before trial, ruling that competitors who triggered keyword ads with the term "Rescuecom" does not violate the trademark law. Currently a appeal has been made and this case is still pending.



Stakes are high as a final ruling against the defense in any keyword bidding lawsuit could potentially cause an impact on the entire search marketing field. Trademark infringement on search ads will not only affect the purchaser, but also those companies selling the ads such as Google and Yahoo!. "That would have a noticeable effect on the online advertising industry." says Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law.