EngineWorks

In a move that could have significant repercussions (if successful) upon professional search marketing firms and engines, last week American Airlines filed a trademark lawsuit against search giant Google. According to the DM News article “American Airlines files a trademark infringement complaint against Google“, the airline company is suing Google to prevent the engine from continuing to sell its trademarks to unauthorized entities who are using them “confuse or divert consumers searching for AA.com or American’s products”.

Google has successfully defeated four similar lawsuits in the past, however none of the previous challengers has the financial muscle of American Airlines. This new lawsuit is attempting to prove that Google is assisting third parties to mislead consumers by allowing American Airlines’ registered trademarks to be used as keyword triggers within their AdWords system.