Posts tagged as:

Lanham Act

Second Circuit: Google Keyword Ad Practices Are "Use in Commerce"

April 6, 2009

A few days ago I discussed a decision by Massachusetts U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner holding that purchase of a trademarked keyword to trigger a sponsored link on a search engine constitutes a “use in commerce” of the trademark under the Lanham Act (the Federal Trademark statute). (Earlier post here). In that post I

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Hearts on Fire v. Blue Nile: Judge Gertner Rules That Keyword to Trigger Search Engine Ads Is a "Use" Under Lanham Act

April 1, 2009

The issue here, presented in the context of a motion to dismiss, is whether adoption of a trademark as a search engine keyword constitutes a “use” under the Lanham Act.  The Lanham Act requires “use in commerce” as a condition of infringement, and as Judge Gertner points out, various courts have taken different positions on

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