{
  "id": "R40799",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R40799",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 357400,
      "date": "2010-03-22",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:19:45.987268",
      "title": "Use of Trademarks as Keywords to Trigger Internet Search Engine Advertisements",
      "summary": "The use of trademarks in connection with Internet-based advertising has sparked disputes between trademark owners, advertisers, and Internet search engine operators over whether such activity violates federal trademark law. Specifically, trademark owners have expressed concern over the sale of their trademarks by Internet search engines to third parties that want to have \u201cbanner\u201d advertisements, \u201csponsored links,\u201d or \u201csponsored results\u201d appear on a search results Web page when those trademarked words are entered as a search query. For example, the shoe company Reebok may purchase the trademark \u201cNike\u201d from the Internet search engine Google as a \u201ckeyword.\u201d If a consumer conducts a search for the term \u201cNike\u201d on Google\u2019s website, the consumer would be presented with paid advertisements for Reebok\u2019s products in the right-hand margin of the Web page immediately next to the search results for Nike\u2019s shoes and apparel. \nWhether the use of trademarks as \u201ckeywords\u201d that trigger such online advertisements constitutes actionable trademark infringement is a question that has been the subject of much litigation over the past five years. However, to date there have been very few final court rulings on the legality of keyword advertising; most cases have involved rulings from judges on procedural pre-trial motions filed by the parties. The primary issue for these courts was not whether the trademark owner would prevail in a lawsuit brought against a keyword seller (search engines) or keyword buyer (advertisers), but whether the plaintiff was entitled to proceed to trial to offer evidence in support of the trademark infringement claim. For example, most courts have had to answer a threshold question about whether a trademark owner would be able to overcome defense motions to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim for relief, on the grounds that the use of a trademark as a paid keyword is not a \u201cuse in commerce\u201d within the meaning of the Lanham Act. Until recently, there was a split in opinion among the federal courts in different circuits concerning this question. The April 2009 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Rescuecom Corp. v. Google, Inc. resolved the circuit conflict in favor of a determination that the use of a trademark as a keyword trigger (or facilitating such use) does constitute a \u201cuse in commerce\u201d for purposes of the Lanham Act. However, establishing that a defendant uses another\u2019s mark in commerce is only one element of the infringement claim; for a violation of the Lanham Act to be found, such use must be likely to cause consumer confusion or mistake as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of the goods or services offered by the defendant. So far, there is a lack of judicial consensus on this second element, and thus the legality of using trademarks for keyword-triggered advertising remains unsettled. \nThis report provides a summary and analysis of judicial opinions that have developed the current state of trademark law governing keyword-triggered advertising.",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806568/",
      "id": "R40799_2009Sep08",
      "date": "2009-09-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Use of Trademarks as Keywords to Trigger Internet Search Engine Advertisements",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
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}