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A top European court has ruled that Google has not infringed rights of entities, including French luxury brand Louis Vuitton, by allowing online advertisers to buy keywords similar to their competitors' trademarks.
Google offers AdWords service, whereby advertisers can buy key words, which would be displayed as advertising links when an Internet user searches for a similar word.
The Court of Justice of the European Union on Tuesday said the Internet major "has not infringed trade mark law by allowing advertisers to purchase keywords corresponding to their competitors' trade marks".
The proceedings against Google was brought by entities, including Vuitton, which owns trademarks such as 'Vuitton' and 'Louis Vuitton'. "If a trade mark has been used as a keyword, the proprietor of that trade mark cannot, therefore, rely, as against Google, on the exclusive right which it derives from its mark," the court said in a statement.
"By contrast, it can invoke that right against those advertisers which, by means of a keyword corresponding to its mark, arrange for Google to display ads," which makes it impossible or difficult for the Internet users to establish the source of such advertisements, the statement noted.