The court in Societe des Hotels Meridien v. S.A.R.L. Google France ruled, on December 16, 2004, that the Google French subsidiary infringed the trademarks of Le Meridien by allowing competitors to bid on these marks as keywords and have ads appear prominently in search results. The court ordered Google to stop linking ads to Le Meridien trademarks or face a fine of 150 euros per day. Google also must remove in the future any new infringing ads within 72 hours after being notified by Le Meridien.

Significantly, the court singled out the Google AdWords Keyword Tool as being particularly problematic. The Tool suggests keywords that an advertiser can purchase after the advertiser inputs terms of interest. The problem is that the list of suggested words includes trademarks, even though Google?s policy outside of the United States and Canada in not to sell trademarks as keywords. The court ordered Google to assure that the AdWords Keyword Tool stopped suggesting MERIDIEN and LE MERIDIEN or combinations of those marks with the words hotel or resort via the Tool. According to reports, Google plans to appeal.

Earlier last year, two French travel agencies, Luteciel and Viaticum, successfully sued Google in France for trademark infringement for this practice. The agencies sued Google France for allowing third party advertisers to use their registered marks BOURSE DES VOLES and BOURSE DES VOYAGES as keywords. In October 2003, a French court ordered Google to pay a fine of 75,000 euros and cease allowing advertisers to link keyword advertising to trademarks. The court stated that when users perform searches for registered trademarks, Google should find a way to block the appearance of ads of parties who have no rights in those marks. Google has appealed the decision.

Three similar lawsuits have been filed against Google in France and are pending. In August 2003, LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton SA filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Google France arising out of its keyword-triggered advertising program. In April 2004, a major French insurance company, AXA, filed a lawsuit against Google for allowing competitors to buy online advertisements which appear when searches are conducted for AXA registered marks AXA and DIRECT ASSURANCE. Also pending in France is an action by Rentabiliweb, a French company, which alleges that Google sold its trademark as a keyword to a rival company, Tel 4 Money.

As noted in our previous Arent Fox alert on this subject, a number of cases on this topic remain pending in the United States. We will continue to follow this issue closely.