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February 8, 2005

Louis Vuitton vs Google

Posted by Adam Viener

The Parisian District Court has ruled against Google, saying that Google's allowing competitors to run ads triggered by Louis Vuitton's trademark terms was counterfeiting, unfair competition and misleading advertising. The court has ordered Google to pay Louis Vuitton $250,000 and stop displaying ads for Vuitton's competitors whenever users type in the company's name into the search engine.

Google said it was still considering whether or not to appeal the ruling. "We're studying the ruling," said Google spokesperson Myriam Boublil. "No decision's been taken yet on an appeal." Only a month ago, Google lost a similar case with Le Meridian Hotels, in which the search engine firm was fined $2,550 and ordered to pay costs.

Managing different trademark policies in different countries could prove difficult for Google, and we may see this trigger harder positions on trademark bidding in the US in the near future.