A German court is set to hear oral arguments in a
trademark suit against Google next week as the search giant faces
yet another legal challenge to its AdWords keyword advertising
program.
Google has already been sued in France and the US by parties
claiming that AdWords, which lets advertisers bid on keywords to
place ads, allows others to profit from their trademarks.
Metaspinner Media, which runs a comparison shopping site, is
suing Google for infringing on its "Preispiraten" trademark, which
means roughly "price pirates." Metaspinner has already won a
preliminary injunction against Google last November and is seeking
a permanent injunction and damages, said Petra Bosbach, a lawyer
for Metaspinner.
The oral hearing is due to take place in the Hamburg district
court on Tuesday. If an agreement is not reached, the proceedings
will move to the next stage and the court will decide whether to
order the permanent injunction, she said.
Metaspinner has submitted information about similar cases filed
against Google, but it is not clear whether the German court will
take them into consideration, Bosbach said.
For example, the American Blind & Wallpaper Factory has sued
Google, arguing that it infringed upon its trademark by allowing
competing retailers to bid on similar words such as "American
blind" or "American blinds." Google has also been sued in France by
Louis Vuitton Malletier and insurance group AXA Advisers, among
others.
Metaspinner is arguing that third parties, and Google in
particular, benefit from the money it has spent to build up the
Preispiraten brand. Third parties pay to use the name as a keyword
to get a high ranking and Google is reimbursed for the
advertising.
"Preispiraten means getting goods at a really good price,
perhaps the best price, and it is a strong brand," Bosbach
said.
Google has not commented on the pending litigation.
Scarlet Pruitt writes for the IDG News Service