Cybersitter has won the first round in its trademark infringement lawsuit against Google.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew, in the Central District of California, has denied Google’s request to transfer the case to its home court: the Northern District of California.
The company, which provides Internet filter software, is alleging Google infringed trademark on AdWords, according to a technology and marketing law blog by Eric Goldman. Cybersitter alleges Net Nanny, a competitor, paid to have its ads pop up when Internet users search for “Cybersitter” on Google, the Cybersitter v. Google complaint indicates.
Cybersitter, which was an AdWords advertiser until 2010, agreed to Google’s terms of service, which includes a condition to take legal action on all ad-related disputes in court in Santa Clara County, California.
Google contended, under those terms, Cybersitter’s case should be heard in a northern California court. Lew, however, said Cybersitter’s complaints against the search engine giant weren’t covered by Google’s AdWords contract.
“This is one of three remaining trademark lawsuits against Google for AdWords,” Goldman wrote. “The other two pending suits are Rosetta Stone and Home Decor Center; Google just won the Jurin case. In this ruling, Google suffers a preliminary loss in the Cybersitter case on a couple of key points. I still think Google will eventually win this case one way or another, but it’s still a bummer ruling for Google. It also is a signal that Google may have an uphill battle with this judge.”
In the past, judges have ruled in Google’s favor, which has forced companies in distant locations to pursue their cases in the San Francisco area.
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Wow, this is interesting on so many levels. The fact that Net Nanny was targeting “cybersitter” as an Adwords keyword is pretty underhanded but I guess all is fair in business. However I don’t really see where the trademark infringement comes into play. Is it because Net Nanny infringed on Cybersitter by using the keyword?
Check out the court’s docket in the Home Decor Center case. By that same token, Google also lost Round 1 in trying to dismiss the lawsuit. Google has now filed an Answer.
It may be because Google allowed Net Nanny to use the word Cybersitter as a keyword when the company Cybersitter was also an AdWords customer.