Powered by Rollyo

Recent Comment
Spotlight

  • Reader Michael Megalli writes: It is difficult to engage in genuine conversations with the marketplace when you can't change the reality of how a company does business, what it sells, how it works with partners, etc. [go]

Recent Comments

  • fred wilson: " john i think you have to use twitter to ..." [go]
  • Serkan: " Looking a blinking, moving, las vegas st ..." [go]
  • Adam: " Maybe I am a little slow here. But the Y ..." [go]
  • nmw: " Here's one such example of the engine I ..." [go]
  • nmw: " There is a quite simple way Micro ..." [go]
  • nmw: " I find htt ..." [go]
  • nmw: " I agree, Mark. The fact that language i ..." [go]
  • Mark Porter: " I was recently at a conference where I h ..." [go]
  • Andrew S: " Ads on Google's home page would not hurt ..." [go]
  • John Weir: " Great post John. I'm running some cour ..." [go]
  • nmw: " wow -- that almost makes the sohbet spam ..." [go]
  • me@home.com: " Hi John, great book. Great blog. Great t ..." [go]
  • nmw: " Chris, maybe not on HotBot.COM or Googl ..." [go]
  • Chris Kilkes: " An old cliche comes to mind, "what's old ..." [go]
  • Sarah Worsham: " Interesting idea, but doesn't seem to wo ..." [go]
  • seo results: " Interesting, so kinda like what Ask.com ..." [go]

PERFECT FOR THAT PERSON WITH EVERYTHING
Order 'The Search'

thesearch_bookcover.jpg

Yup, it makes the perfect gift for that officemate or colleague who you thought had everything....including you! If you order here, I promise to sign it, assuming we can figure out the shipping...

You can also buy the audio version here.

Check my book page for more info.

Blogger's Rights

Top Posts

Active Topics

Monthly Archives

About John Battelle

Searchblog Newsletter

Enter email to subscribe to Searchblog's newsletter:

Calendar

May 2008
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Syndicate

Powered by

April 13, 2004 8:53 AM

What Does Google Know Trademark Lawyers Don't?

They must know something, because late last week they notified their advertisers that it was open season on trademark keyword buys (CNET story here). Yes, this is the long simmering issue that is still in the courts - trademark owners don't want third parties bidding on their trademarked terms (the most well-known case is Playboy).

In any case, this is a bold move, akin to "waving a red flag at the bull" as one source told CNET. But is it? At the end of the day, the law favors clarity and consistency, if it can. Seems to me this move forces clarity: It's all or nothing. Google is, by its action, declaring what it thinks is the appropriate approach - let the market decide. LImiting *some* keywords forces the courts into a never ending cycle of litigation around where the boundaries w/r/t fair trademark use are.In the current political climate, such an approach will probably prove futile in the long run. Google is playing this move against what they believe is the end game, and they may not be far off in their estimation of the courts.

  • Posted by John Battelle on April 13, 2004 8:53 AM

  • remember this »
  • Sphere It

TrackBack

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference What Does Google Know Trademark Lawyers Don't?:

» Coke Adds Life from The Pre-Commerce Blog
It’s nice when a big company like Google comes out and admits that I was right. Their decision today to start accepting ads on all trademarked terms is a wise one. Trademark owners should be able to protect their brand names from fraudulent or misleadi... [Read More]

» Coke Adds Life from The Pre-Commerce Blog
It’s nice when a big company like Google comes out and admits that I was right. Their decision today to start accepting ads on all trademarked terms is a wise one. Trademark owners should be able to protect their brand names from fraudulent or misleadi... [Read More]

Comments

Would need to see the letters but maybe they simply want to disallow purchasing of those words which is perefectly within their right.

Leave a comment

Sponsors

Searchblog Classifieds!

Searchblog, in paperback

Categories

Search Resources

License