Last week Google made the – not so surprising – announcement that they will be relaxing their UK trademark guidelines on September 14th, allowing advertisers to use 3rd party trademarks within ad copy even if they do not own the trademark. The full text of the announcement is available here: http://tiny.cc/3dfbm.
This move brings the UK in line with the current policy adopted in the USA.
Google have been quick to clarify that this change will only affect 3rd parties: resellers, sellers of component parts, etc. This addition to the announcement should ensure a degree of protection against competitors; but will it?
Although Google’s clarification is clear, this policy shift inevitably opens the door for confusion, complications and ultimately price increases. We feel that changes will be small in the initial period following September 14th and in fact the biggest change is likely to come about following the outcome of the Interflora Vs M & S trademark infringement battle, which is due to reach the European Court of Justice in 2011. (http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/867889/Interflora-takes-legal-action-against-M-S-Google-AdWord-bidding/)
We will be contacting all of our search clients individually with recommendations going forward, but if you would like to discuss how this may affect your business please drop us an email.
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