Google Changing Trademark Policy In The UK
However, from May 5, 2008, trademark complaint investigations will no longer result in Google monitoring or restricting keywords for ads served to users in the UK and Ireland. This will bring the procedure in line with the approach taken in the US and Canada. Complaints received on or after April 4th will be processed under our revised procedure.
The following would be Trademark Complaint Procedures:
Trademark Complaint Procedure - Trademark rights in US, UK, Ireland and Canada
When the team receives complaint from a trademark owner, only they tend to investigate the use of the trademark in ad text. If the advertiser is using the trademark in ad text, then the advertiser is required to remove the trademarked term and prevent them from using it in the future. Please note that the keywords will not be disabled in response to a trademark complaint. In addition, please note that any such investigation will only affect ads served on or by Google.
If you are a trademark owner (or represent a trademark owner) and have an objection to an advertiser's use of a term corresponding to your trademark in ad text that is consistent with the foregoing, please provide the following information in a signed letter on company stationery:
1. Name of Company
2. Contact information (including email address)
3. List of trademark(s) at issue and the country/countries in which it is registered
4. The identity of the advertisement(s) at issue (via the URL stated on the bottom line of the ad or other identifying information). Please indicate if your complaint is limited to specific advertisers/advertisements or if it is a general objection to all advertisers.
5. If certain affiliates or partners are permitted to use your trademark in their ad content, please list the company names in your letter.
6. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the trademarks described above with the advertisements described above are not authorized by the trademark owner or its agent, nor is such use otherwise permissible under law."
7. Include the following statement: "I represent that the information in this notification is true and correct and that I am authorized to act on behalf of the trademark owner."
8. Your signature.
Please send this written communication with the above information to the following address:
Google Inc.
Attn: Google AdWords, Trademark Complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Trademark Complaint Procedure - Trademark rights outside US, UK, Ireland and Canada
When the team receives a complaint from a trademark owner, review is limited to ensuring that the advertisements at issue are not using a term corresponding to the trademarked term in the ad content or as a keyword trigger. If they are, we will require the advertiser to remove the trademarked term from the ad content or keyword list and will prevent the advertiser from using the trademarked term in the future. Please note that any such investigation will only affect ads served on or by Google.
Furthermore, please be aware that we do not take any action in situations where an advertisement is being triggered by non-trademarked terms even though the search query contains a trademarked term. This stems from the fact that Google allows advertisers to use a broad matching system to target their ads. For example, if an advertiser has selected the keyword shoes , that advertiser's ad will appear when a user enters the word "shoes" as a search query, regardless of other search terms that may be used. So, the ad would show if the user entered any of the following search queries: "tennis shoes," "red shoes," or "Nike shoes." This system eliminates the need for the advertiser to specify individually the many different search query combinations that are relevant to their ad.
If you are a trademark owner (or represent a trademark owner) and have an objection to an advertiser's use of a term corresponding to your trademark as a keyword or in ad text that is consistent with the foregoing, please provide the following information in a signed letter on company stationery:
1. Name of Company
2. Contact information (including email address)
3. List of trademark(s) at issue and the country/countries in which it is registered
4. The identity of the advertisement(s) at issue (via the URL stated on the bottom line of the ad or other identifying information). Please indicate if your complaint is limited to specific advertisers/advertisements or if it is a general objection to all advertisers.
5. Are you concerned with: a. the advertisement's content, or
6. the keywords that trigger the advertisement, or
7. both?
8. If your site has an affiliate program, are affiliates permitted to use the trademarked term as a keyword or in the advertisement's content?
9. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the trademarks described above with the advertisements described above is not authorized by the trademark owner or its agent, nor is such use otherwise permissible under law."
10. Include the following statement: "I represent that the information in this notification is true and correct and that I am authorized to act on behalf of the trademark owner."
11. Your signature.
Please send this written communication with the above information to the following address:
Google Inc.
Attn: Google AdWords, Trademark Complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Or via fax to: +1 (650) 649 1774
Attn: Google Trademark Complaints
FAQs:
What's changing in AdWords Trademark Policy? When?
Google has made a policy revision that applies to complaints that we receive regarding trademarks in the UK and Ireland. For complaints received on or after Friday 4 April 2008, we will no longer review a term corresponding to the trademarked term as a keyword trigger. However, we will continue to perform a limited courtesy investigation of complaints regarding ad text purported to be in violation of a trademark.
Beginning 5 May 2008, keywords that were disabled as a result of a trademark investigation will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland.
Why did Google change its trademark policy?
We want advertisers to use keywords that are most relevant to their business and our user's interests. Google's goal is to provide our users with the most relevant information, whether it is from our search results or advertisements. A key to achieving this goal with our ads is providing relevant choices and giving users the opportunity to determine which ads they find most relevant.
Who's affected by the policy change?
Google's revised trademark policy applies to trademarks held in the UK and Ireland. We will continue to handle trademark complaints for all other countries pursuant to the existing trademark policy.
What will happen to existing trademark complaints?
- Complaints received prior to 4 April 2008:
We will investigate complaints against trademark use in ad text and keywords. Complaints will be processed according to the current policy.
- Complaints received on or after 4 April 2008:If the complaint requests that we prevent the use of the trademark in ad text, we will continue our efforts to support this request. Complaints will be processed under our revised procedure.
- All Complaints:Beginning in May 2008, keywords that were disabled as a result of a trademark complaint and investigation will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland.
Will Google respond to any trademark complaints in relation to the UK and Ireland?
Yes. With respect to the UK and Ireland, Google will perform limited courtesy investigations of reported trademark violations and complaints related to ad text.
What are your plans to extend this policy to additional countries?
Local laws and business customs differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The revised policy applies to UK and Ireland only.
Will trademark terms in my account start triggering ads?
Keywords that were disabled as a result of a trademark investigation may begin triggering your ads in the UK and Ireland, starting 5 May 2008.
Does this mean that I can now use trademark terms as keywords?
Google is not in a position to make recommendations regarding the use of terms corresponding to trademarks. If you have further questions, we encourage you to contact your legal counsel and consult the AdWords Terms and Conditions.
How do I change who is authorised to use my trademark?
If you would like to update your current trademark complaint to edit the list of authorised users of your trademark, you can send us a list of the authorised users, if any, who are allowed to use your trademarked terms in their keywords and/or creatives. You'll find information about our trademark complaint procedures online at http://www.google.co.uk/tm_complaint.html. Since there may now be competition with my ads, can you help me improve my natural search results? The AdWords programme, including the selection of an AdWords ad or AdWords ads content, is unrelated to the ranking of sites on our natural search results. To protect the integrity of our site, we clearly distinguish between search results and advertising. While we understand your concern regarding our recent revision of trademark policy, we may not influence the ranking of any site listed within Google Search results.
Google's order of results is automatically determined by several factors, including our PageRank algorithm. Please take a look at out our 'Why Use Google' page for more detail. The best way to ensure a results listing on Google is for many other sites to link to you.
I also recommend that you visit our webmaster section. This section is designed to answer all your concerns and questions regarding your business or website's presence within the Google search engine.
Who should I contact if I have further questions about this policy change?
You can email trademark-policy-revision@google.co.uk regarding any questions that you might have about the policy change.
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