[E-trademarks] Keyword advertising/trademark issue

[Tushnet, Rebecca]

Check out Rhino Sports, Inc. v. Sport Court, Inc., No. CV-02-1815-PHX-JAT, 2007 WL 1302745 (D. Ariz. May 2, 2007),at *4 (“The basic issue is whether Rhino Sports violated the permanent injunction beyond substantial compliance when Rhino Sports broad matched keywords using Google’s AdWords program that led to its sponsored link appearing when the term ‘Sport Court’ (without quotations marks) was queried. At issue is not whether Rhino Sports’ current activities infringe Sport Court’s trademark, but whether Rhino Sports substantially violated the permanent injunction.); id. at *5 (“With regard to keyword purchasing, the permanent injunction serves as no bar to Rhino Sports’ use of any generic terms such as ‘courts’ or ‘basketball court.’ Sport Court cites no legal authority establishing that a consumer's use of certain search terms in a Google or other web search, that generates a sponsored ad link which reflects no use of the mark at issue in terms of keyword use, metatag use or ad text use, constitutes use of a mark under the Lanham Act. Indeed, the case law cited by Sport Court involves some actual use of the mark at issue, either as a keyword, in a metatag, or in the ad text itself—something that has not been established here.”) (footnote omitted)

Rebecca Tushnet
she/her
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard Law School
703 593 6759
________________________________
From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> on behalf of doug--- via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 3:23 PM
To: 'For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice.' <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: doug at giga.law <doug at giga.law>
Subject: [E-trademarks] Keyword advertising/trademark issue


Hypothetical: A Google search for “Atlanta convertible” returns a paid search result for a company (“Atlantic Cars”) that sells convertibles.



A competitor, known simply as “Atlanta,” which owns a trademark registration for the word “Atlanta,” claims that this search result shows Atlantic Cars is bidding on/purchasing its “Atlanta” trademark on Google.  In reality, Atlantic Cars is not doing so.  Instead, Atlantic Cars is simply bidding on/purchasing based on the word “convertible.”  And the paid Google search result for Atlantic Cars has appeared because the search included the word “convertible,” not because it included the trademark “Atlanta.”



My questions:



(1) Is my explanation of what has occurred (possibly) accurate?



(2) Can anyone provide links to Google articles or other reputable posts that explain this scenario?



Douglas M. Isenberg | The GigaLaw Firm

Attorney at Law

Phone: 1-404-348-0368

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