U.S. Court Orders Online Advertiser to Use “Negative Keywords” Related to Trademark.

In what we believe is one of the first cases of its kind, the U.S. Court has not only found that the use of trademarks in a Google Adword advertising campaign (and other advertising systems), but also required the Defendant to utilize the “negative keyword” system built into Google, as well as “excluded words” in the Yahoo! equivalent.  The issue of whether use of third party trademarks as keywords in online advertising campaigns has been an issue U.S. Courts have struggled with over the last few years.  Some decisions have concluded that the use of trademarks in keywords is appropriate, in that it allows consumers to find alternative goods and services.  Other courts have held that use of trademarks in Google Adword campaigns, for instance, constitute trademark infringement.  These are typically fact specific disputes with varying outcomes.