AP: French Lawsuit Challenges Google

"J'ai de la chance"

Only days after Google announced a more aggressive strategy in challenging the rights of trademark holders to prevent words, phrases and brand names from being sold as advertising triggers, European insurance company AXA is suing the search giant in France for just such a practice. The company was piqued when it found that competitor sites were advertised when people entered in the keyword AXA.

Google found that it couldn't win whichever policy it chose, as some companies sued it for not being allowed to use certain keywords. The problem is compounded by the fact that different words are trademarked in different industries for different purposes. For instance, AXA is also a college fraternity business in the U.S. Worse still, many countries have inconsistent trademark laws, and trademarks may be secured in one jurisdiction and not another.

Making the problem more intractable for Google is the fact that France's courts have been the ones that have most consistently ruled against U.S. companies in favor of Continental interests.