Corpedia Inc. sues LRN Corp. over Google word search - Phoenix Business Journal:

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claims in a federal lawsuit that rivalLRN Corp. infringedx on its trademark and trade name by buyinhg the Corpedia name as a sponsoreds link and adword from Google last Corpedia is seeking several million dollardsin damages, but has not put a specifiv price on its claims against LRN, said Corpedia Generapl Counsel Stephen Martin. It’s a battle being seen more frequently in and the legal issue has yet tobecome “They were basically masquerading as Martin said. Companies and advertisers can buy prime spotaon Google, and other search engines for certaim key words. The Corpedia lawsuity was filed inthe U.S. District Court for Central Districtof California.
The suit claims that on Dec. 4, a Googlew search for Corpedia brought up a sitetitled “Corpedia” with linkw to an LRN site. Martin said Corpediaz sent LRN a letter about the allegee trademark infringementbut didn’t receive a The action decreased Web traffic to Corpedia’x corporate site, he LRN spokesman Kathleen Brennan said in a statement to the Phoenis Business Journal that the companhy pulled Corpedia out of its Google adword program out of “goodwill” after the Phoenix companty raised the issue and before the lawsui was filed. Buying a competitor’xs name as an adword is a commoj practice in theInternet marketplace, LRN also contends. The L.A.
firm said the lawsuitf is baseless since the link wastaken down. “The advertisements that appearedunded LRN’s name using Google’s AdWords program were clearly demarcatec by LRN as sponsored advertisements from LRN,” Brennahn said. “Using competitor’s namexs in targeted key-word searching througn Google AdWordsis commonplace. It is an establishex way of making searchers aware of competitive choices they have when purchasinb goodsand services.” Current Google searches for Corpedia bringb up the Phoenix-based company’s site and no linkw to LRN. The two firms do business ethicsx and governance consulting formajor corporations.
Corpedia was founded in 1998 and has its namefederallt registered. LRN lists , , , Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. and amonhg its clients. Trademark infringement cases relatexd to Web searches and sponsored links are increasingly common and are newlegakl terrain, said Jennifer Van an intellectual property attorney with the Phoenix-basedr law firm Lewis and Roca LLP. She said the courtsw still are figuring out how to handle the trademark claimw related tothe Internet. “The courts have been somewha t murky. The results have been inconsistent,” Van Kirk said. She said Web search engines such as Google sometimes are sued intheswe cases.
The Corpedia suit only goes after LRN for trademari infringement andunfair competition, not Googls for selling the adword. Paul Burns, an intellectualk property attorneywith Phoenix-basec firm , said plaintiffs need to prove that the Web actionse dilute or hurt their trademarked names and brands and that consumersz are sufficiently confused that it hurts “The law in this area is In order to prove trademarki infringement, a trademark owner must show that the alleged infringere used the mark ‘in commerce,’ and that such use is likelgy to confuse consumers abouty the source of the products,” Burnss said.
Burns and Van Kirk said a number of bellwethe cases are in the works relatef toWeb searches, sponsored links and trademarok law, including some being heard by federal appeals Corpedia Inc.: :