Geico sues Google, Overture over trademarks | CNET News.com
bq. Geico, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned by Warren Buffett, filed suit against Google and Yahoo-owned Overture on May 4, in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The insurer charged the two companies with infringing on its trademarks when they sold them as keywords to Geico’s rivals, so that the protected terms could appear in sponsored search results. According to the suit, that practice causes consumer confusion, in violation of the Lanham Act, the primary federal law covering trademark registration and protection.
It seems to me that this is going to far. If targeted search is illegal, than do copyright holders also have the right to prohibit people from recommending a product/service by saying “it’s just like *X* ?”
Search Ads Violate Trademark?
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Geico sues Google, Overture over trademarks | CNET News.com
bq. Geico, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned by Warren Buffett, filed suit against Google and Yahoo-owned Overture on May 4, in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The insurer charged the two companies with infringing on its trademarks when they sold them as keywords to Geico’s rivals, so that the protected terms could appear in sponsored search results. According to the suit, that practice causes consumer confusion, in violation of the Lanham Act, the primary federal law covering trademark registration and protection.
It seems to me that this is going to far. If targeted search is illegal, than do copyright holders also have the right to prohibit people from recommending a product/service by saying “it’s just like *X* ?”