Trade mark use and misleading advertising in Google AdWords: A comparative analysis of search engine liability in Australia and Europe

摘要

For a number of years advertisers have utilised Google's AdWords service to select competitors' trade marks as keywords which, upon an internet user entering a corresponding search term, trigger the display of advertisements that offer their own competing goods or services. Trade mark proprietors have run out of patience with this practice and have pursued both the advertisers and Google for misleading and deceptive conduct in Australia, and trade mark infringement in Europe. This article examines the landmark recent decisions in both continents and finds that there is a striking similarity between the analyses conducted by Australia's and Europe's highest courts of the role played by Google in advertisers' infringing conduct.