CNET: Google faces trademark suit over keyword ads

"American Blind" search pulls up more
than just window treatments

A week after AOL settled a suit with Playboy on trademarked keyword terms, Google finds itself again in litigation with window treatment firm American Blind on the very same issue. As there hasn't been a full-fledged U.S. judgment on the issue of whether or not search engines can rent out terms that involve trademarks, the issue remains cloudy.

Google has tried to ride the middle with a compromise that would preclude the selling of strict trademarked terms that are pure brand inventions, like "DecorateToday," but allow the sale of more generic terms that may or may not be intended to find a brand's product, like "American Blind."

Google first went to court in November in response to threatening letters sent by American Blind. It asked a California U.S. district court to rule on whether or not its advertising policies were legal. The new litigation asks the court to dismiss that action and consider its original claims.