Search Engines Searching for Trouble? Comparing Search Engine Operator Responsibility for Competitive Keyword Advertising Under EU and US Trademark Law

Abstract

In both the EU and the US, trademark owners have sued search engine operators for using their trademarks as triggers in competitive keyword advertising. EU and US courts have taken a different approach to search engine operator liability for such invisible keyword use. The article outlines these different approaches and argues that the ECJ made the right decision when it pushed search engine operator liability outside the realm of trademark law in Google v. Louis Vuitton. However, after this decision, search engine operator liability in the EU is all but clear.