Google Wins Trademark Dispute - Google vs. American Blinds
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Going forward to 2005, when Google filed a motion to dismiss the suit filed against it by American Blinds, the judge disagreed, allowing the case to go forward. But there was at least one point to that decision which weighed in Google's favor. The judge dismissed American Blinds' claim of tortious interference with prospective business advantage.
Later, in April of this year, American Blinds' lawsuit hit another snag. Judge Jeremy Fogel, of the US District Court in San Jose, stated in a pretrial ruling that two of the company's trademarks -- "American Blind" and "American Blinds" -- were descriptive terms and unenforceable. The judge allowed the case to proceed based on three other trademarks: "American Blind Factory," "Decoratetoday" and "American Blind & Wallpaper Factory."
And last month, American Blind and Google settled. The paperwork states that both companies agreed to dismiss their relevant litigation, with prejudice. They both agreed to pay their own costs and attorneys' fees. Furthermore, the agreement says that "So long as Google does not make a material change in AdWords trademark policy that adversely affects ABWF, ABWF covenants not to sue Google..." and American Blind "expressly acknowledges that Google has not made and has not agreed to make any payment to ABWF of any kind whatsoever...and that Google has not agreed to make any change to its trademark policies or any exception to how it applies its trademark policies."
Google portrayed the result as vindication for its AdWords practices. "We've said that American Blind & Wallpaper Factory's claims were baseless, and that Google's trademark policies are perfectly reasonable and lawful," Michael Kwun, a managing counsel for Google, said in a statement. "Now, with trial approaching, American Blind decide to withdraw all of its claims. We are very pleased with this outcome."
Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, described the outcome as "a stunning victory for Google" and noted in an interview with Mercury News that American Blinds may have spent in excess of $100,000 on the case -- only to lose legal fees and two trademarks. In his blog, Goldman says that "this case reiterates that keyword-related lawsuits can be a sucker's bet."
Follow the Media, which bills itself as "a knowledge base for media professionals," quoted a statement it said came from American Blinds. "We still believe that what Google does is wrong, but this is no longer our fight. Our competitors should know that our settlement agreement with Google in no way limits our ability to object and seek legal relief if they continue to buy our trademarks as key words from any search engine, including Google."
Next: American Airlines Joins the Fray >>
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