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| Google not guilty in Vuitton row | Google not guilty in Vuitton row |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of Google in a dispute with luxury goods maker LMVH. | The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of Google in a dispute with luxury goods maker LMVH. |
| The firm is owner of Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon champagne, Dior perfume and other brands. | The firm is owner of Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon champagne, Dior perfume and other brands. |
| It had claimed that Google's practice of selling keywords in advertising searches to the highest bidder damaged trademark law. | It had claimed that Google's practice of selling keywords in advertising searches to the highest bidder damaged trademark law. |
| It means that people searching for branded products could also be shown rival brands or counterfeit goods. | It means that people searching for branded products could also be shown rival brands or counterfeit goods. |
| Google's Adword service, which allows companies to bid for places in the sponsored listings at the top and to the right of the natural search results generated by a query, is a key source of revenue for the company. | Google's Adword service, which allows companies to bid for places in the sponsored listings at the top and to the right of the natural search results generated by a query, is a key source of revenue for the company. |
| "Google has not infringed trademark law by allowing advertisers to purchase keywords corresponding to their competitors' trademarks," the ruling found. | "Google has not infringed trademark law by allowing advertisers to purchase keywords corresponding to their competitors' trademarks," the ruling found. |
| LMVH said that the ruling clarified the rules of online advertising. | |
| "We want to work with all the players, including Google, to eradicate illegal practices online," said LMVH vice president Pierre Code. | |
| In a post written for Google's blog, intellectual property lawyer Dr Harjinder S Obhi commented that the result recognised "a fundamental principle behind the free flow of information over the internet." | |
| Trademarks are "not absolute" added Dr Obhi, saying that if a user is looking for a particular model of car, for example, they expect to see other car dealers in addition to the manufacturer's own website included in search results. | |
| The "bad user experience" of counterfeit good sales was also a separate issue Dr Obhi argued. | |
| "(Google has) strict policies that forbid the advertising of counterfeit goods." |