Virtual Trademark Use: The Parallel World of Keyword Ads

摘要

Doubtless only a lawyer could sensibly parse the statement that "commercial use is not the equivalent of 'use in commerce.'" To ordinary sentient beings, it might seem that the only way to make "commercial use" of something would be "in commerce." Nonetheless, navigating this seeming logical labyrinth, lifted verbatim from a recent ruling dismissing a claim concerning Internet keyword advertising, may well determine what limits henceforth can be placed on such promotional tools and, maybe more important, how other more subtle and possibly insidious secret uses of trademarks to guide or divert Internet traffic can be regulated.