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 Keyword Advertising and Metatags no Trademark Violation in the USA, (but don't count on it)

Different courts in the USA are still coming to totally different conclusions on AdWords and metatags. Here is the latest ruling:

According to a recent U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania ruling, it's okay to insert trademarks in your meta tags and to use trademarks when buying search ads, at least as long as  the names are not used in the actual ads (J.G. Wentworth SSC Ltd v. Settlement Funding LLC, No. 06-0597 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 4, 2007)). There is no likelihood of confusion:

"Due to the separate and distinct nature of the links created on any of the search results pages in question, potential consumers have no opportunity to confuse defendant’s services, goods, advertisements, links or websites for those of plaintiff. Therefore, I find that initial interest protection does not apply here. Because no reasonable factfinder could find a likelihood of confusion under the set of facts alleged by plaintiff, I will grant defendant’s motion to dismiss."

 

 

 

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