This has come up several times when Googling a client’s business name, only to find that a competitor is using it as a keyword phrase, so they come up as Sponsors at the top of the page.

We tried that out once, and then got a nasty letter from our competitor’s attorney. But, did they have a cause of action for trademark infringement?

Should we be doing it ourselves?

So, I asked Mark Wisnosky, San Diego Intellectual Property Attorney, and here’s his answer.

“This is a great question and a topic of unsettled current law. There are a lot of cases still being tried in the court system. There is no simple yes or no answer. The answer depends upon how you are using the competitors name. There are likely ways to refer to a competitor that are allowable. However if you are leveraging off the fame of a competitors name to drive traffic and business to your site then you are likely infringing their trademark. As usual with any legal question, the devil is in the details.

The only blanket statement that can be made is to use caution when you begin using a competitor's name on your website and in your key words to drive traffic to that site.”

Mark Wisnosky

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

858.663. 7794