Louis Vuitton wants google adwords to knock it off! Europe’s highest court is expected to hear a trademark infringement suit involving French retailer Louis Vuitton and search giant Google and their keyword advertising system Adwords.
Problem is that companies that sell replicas buy up all the Google AdWords related to your google search. The keywords are used to place ads related to a person’s search terms using Google’s search engine or in Web pages with similar content. An example of this would be, say you are searching for a “Louis Vuitton Handbag” — of course you may be thinking authentic– but google’s search engine offers terms such as “Louis Vuitton replicas” and “Louis Vuitton knockoffs”.
The reason why Google is in the spotlight for the actions of third parties is because it makes money from their use of AdWords. Also, because Google’s automated system suggests alternatives for keywords that advertisers are looking for, Google plays some part in the use of these trademarks (for example, AdWords might suggest that an advertiser use “fake Louis Vuitton” after they indicate an interest in “Vuitton”).