Google Faces Litigation Over AdWords

Google faces litigation over AdWords in Texas. Although the class action lawsuit has multiple plaintiffs, the main plaintiff Firepond, a business from east Texas, claim Google illegally infringed on their registered trademark by selling it as part of AdWords. As part of the suit, any company that uses Google AdWords to provide an embedded search option on their site is also liable for litigation.

The chief example of trademark infringement by Google is the display of a competitor’s link directly next to the registered trademark of the other business. Firepond’s attorney’s state such layouts are misleading and confuse consumers. Based on documentation from the suit Firepond has testimonials or specific examples of consumers that were misled or confused by Google AdWords placement. Also, expected by the plaintiff is proving Google intentionally designed the ad-placement to be confusing. Experts believe the later will prove exceptionally easy as Google has acknowledged that the AdWord policy may potentially cause a suit to be brought against them.

This specific class action lawsuit is limited to plaintiffs in the state of Texas as it cites specific examples of violations of state law. It’s expected and anticipated that plaintiffs in other states will follow suit depending on the outcome of Firepond’s case.