Denies Motion To Dismiss

A somewhat unusual case involving copyright infringement, brought on by American Airlines against internet mega-search provider Google, will be allowed to continue, after a federal court judge denied a motion to dismiss the case last week.

"We are pleased by the judge's order denying Google's motion to dismiss our claims," American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said to ComputerWorld.com. "American would not have brought its lawsuit against Google if we did not believe in the merits of our claims, and the court's order ... ensures that we will have an opportunity to develop and pursue those claims."

As ANN reported, American sued Google in August, alleging Google of selling search words involving the carrier's name. The lawsuit is the latest in a string of cases brought by businesses; all argue Google's advertising system is used unfairly by competitors to "steal" business.

Google's pay-per-click system is the company's main source of revenue, and Google has prevailed in similar lawsuits -- including one by auto insurer GEICO. The airline accused Google of violating trademark laws by selling search terms such as "AA.com" or "American Airlines" to other businesses for advertising purposes.

In his decision Friday, US District Court Judge John McBride gave no reason for denying Google's motion... leaving the case open to speculation as to how it will all turn out, according to a blog post by Eric Goldman, assistant professor and director of the High Tech Law Institute at the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Google was disappointed with McBride's ruling.

"While we were disappointed that the court denied our motion to dismiss, we believe that the American Airlines trademark suit lacks merit," a Google spokesman said. "Google's trademark policy strikes a proper balance between trademark owners' interests and consumer choice and has been validated by prior court decisions."

FMI: www.google.com, www.aa.com, http://blog.ericgoldman.org/