Rosetta Stone, a highly popular software program for learning foreign languages, has filed suit against Google for trademark infringement. The lawsuit claims that since 2004, Google has allowed companies to run Adsense advertisements on Google using keywords allegedly trademarked to Rosetta Stone. The result is that when a person runs a search on Google for Rosetta Stone, numerous paid advertisements for competitors of Rosetta Stone will appear on the page as “sponsored links.” The company asserts that Google even allows companies to use trademarked terms in the headlines of the ads.
Attorney Terence Ross, a partner at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The lawsuit on behalf of Rosetta Stone is just the latest in a series of similar complaints against Google for their advertising practices. A copy of Rosetta Stone's lawsuit can be found here.
While the infringement claims of Rosetta Stone for the use of certain terms may carry some weight, it seems difficult for them to prevail on their claim to hold a trademark on some other common phrases. For example, their complaint over other advertisers using the words “Rosetta Stone” in their ads is more compelling than their claim to control the use of phrases such as “Global Traveler” or “Language Library.” Also, considering that the Rosetta Stone company took their name from an ancient Egyptian artifact called the Rosetta Stone, their trademark infringement claim may run into some problems.
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