Google's AdWords: Nonbinding ruling finds no trademark infringement

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Nonbinding ruling finds no trademark infringement from search keywords, but AdWords service may be culpable

Google Inc. may have won a partial victory in its long-running legal battle with trademark owners today, when a senior judge at the European Court of Justice said the company didn't infringe anyone's trademark rights by allowing advertisers to buy search keywords corresponding to those trademarks.

Advocate general Poiares Maduro added, however, that Google may be liable for running advertisements that offer trademark-infringing products in its AdWords advertising service.

A court in France asked the European Court of Justice to intervene on the trademark issue that lay at the heart of a legal battle between Google and French luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton. The company complained that when entered as a search term on Google, its trademark-protected brand name would trigger ads run by rival luxury goods companies as well as for companies selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton goods.

Louis Vuitton argued that Google's "AdWords" service, established in the U.S. and extended to Europe, allows advertisers to bid on terms like "Louis Vuitton fakes," and that the right to offer a trademarked name as part of a search advertising program breaches E.U. rules.

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A European court helps determine whether Google can keep making money from internet searcher of trademark names. (Bloomberg News)

I've recently actually tried to sell original and replica handbags through my site using AdWords.

Bought a beautiful landing page, found someone to manage AdWords for me - but Google keeps pausing my campaign!

Is there any problem with selling replica via AdWords?