Comments on: Trademarks & Google Adwords http://www.indirecthit.com/2008/04/17/trademarks-google-adwords/ A Discussion on PHP, AJAX and Other Web Tools with a bit of startup talk Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:07:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: clong http://www.indirecthit.com/2008/04/17/trademarks-google-adwords/#comment-90 clong Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:09:31 +0000 http://www.indirecthit.com/?p=26#comment-90 Crazy. I looked at the CIPO FAQ, and came across this: What other kinds of marks may not be registered? In general, the following marks may not be registered: words that are clearly descriptive (e.g. "delicious" ice cream), terms that are misleading, words that designate a place of origin (e.g. "Atlantic" cod), terms or symbols that are too similar to an existing trade-mark, and terms and symbols that are expressly prohibited under the Trade-marks Act. These latter include symbols (coats of arms, badges, crests, etc.) of national and international organizations and terms that are considered immoral or offensive. Other types of marks that may not be registered are plant variety denominations and protected geographical indications for wines and spirits. This makes it seem that almost anything can be trademarked. Still trying to find a good resource for a simple explanation, starting to fear that there is no such thing. (Disclaimer: not sure about this) I think in most cases trademarks have to be used in certain contexts to cause legal issues. But in Google's case, it can't determine the context easily (not with so many ads) so it gets rid of everything. It might be a huge issue in the future...not just for adwords but everything. Crazy. I looked at the CIPO FAQ, and came across this:

What other kinds of marks may not be registered?
In general, the following marks may not be registered: words that are clearly descriptive (e.g. “delicious” ice cream), terms that are misleading, words that designate a place of origin (e.g. “Atlantic” cod), terms or symbols that are too similar to an existing trade-mark, and terms and symbols that are expressly prohibited under the Trade-marks Act. These latter include symbols (coats of arms, badges, crests, etc.) of national and international organizations and terms that are considered immoral or offensive. Other types of marks that may not be registered are plant variety denominations and protected geographical indications for wines and spirits.

This makes it seem that almost anything can be trademarked. Still trying to find a good resource for a simple explanation, starting to fear that there is no such thing.

(Disclaimer: not sure about this) I think in most cases trademarks have to be used in certain contexts to cause legal issues. But in Google’s case, it can’t determine the context easily (not with so many ads) so it gets rid of everything.

It might be a huge issue in the future…not just for adwords but everything.

]]> By: Gary Will http://www.indirecthit.com/2008/04/17/trademarks-google-adwords/#comment-89 Gary Will Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:02:43 +0000 http://www.indirecthit.com/?p=26#comment-89 That's weird. There will be a trademark on almost every common word. I just checked "almost," "every," "common" and "word" and there was more than one U.S.-registered trademark for each. You'd never be able to say anything if every trademark was prohibited. That’s weird. There will be a trademark on almost every common word. I just checked “almost,” “every,” “common” and “word” and there was more than one U.S.-registered trademark for each. You’d never be able to say anything if every trademark was prohibited.

]]> By: clong http://www.indirecthit.com/2008/04/17/trademarks-google-adwords/#comment-88 clong Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:50:05 +0000 http://www.indirecthit.com/?p=26#comment-88 I think it's because L'Oreal Paris hasn't filed a complaint with Google about the use of their trademark. If there isn't a complaint, Google doesn't do anything about it. I think it’s because L’Oreal Paris hasn’t filed a complaint with Google about the use of their trademark. If there isn’t a complaint, Google doesn’t do anything about it.

]]> By: Gary Will http://www.indirecthit.com/2008/04/17/trademarks-google-adwords/#comment-87 Gary Will Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:46:00 +0000 http://www.indirecthit.com/?p=26#comment-87 Why does it let you use the trademark "L'Oreal Paris" in the ad? Why does it let you use the trademark “L’Oreal Paris” in the ad?

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