Intellectual Property Law

Ninth Circuit Decides Competitor Keyword Advertising Case

By Michael Atkins

Not much time to blog, as I’m preparing for my keyword panel discussion.

That said, the Ninth Circuit released a pretty juicy keyword decision Tuesday: Network Automation, Inc. v. Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.

It holds the purchase of a competitor’s trademark constituted a “use” in commerce but didn’t infringe the trademark owner’s rights. The decision is filtered through the prism of the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction, and the defendant is in a different position than Google in the recent Rosetta Stone case, but it seems to bode well for Google and other search engine providers.

The case cite is Network Automation, Inc. v. Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc., No. 10-55840 (9th Cir. March 8, 2011).

Full post as published by Seattle Trademark Lawyer on March 10, 2011 (boomark / email).