Is Your Trademark Being Violated on Search Engines? Here Are Three Easy Ways to Protect It.

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October 2009, Issue 68

Marketing Evolution
Is Your Trademark Being Violated on Search Engines? Here Are Three Easy Ways to Protect It.
By Jim McKinley, Founding Partner of 360Partners

Have you done a search for your brand name recently? Do you know that competitors could be illegally using your name in their advertisements? Did you know that it's in your hands to monitor for unauthorized use of your trademark and to take action?

Recently, 360Partners was hired by a Fortune 500 company interested in improving their search marketing. As part of the account set up, 360Partners analyzed their search account using our proprietary 101-point checklist. This checklist analyzes every aspect of a search marketing account and is intended to find areas for account improvement. One of the primary findings from the analysis was that several competitors were using the company's trademark in their headlines and ads without consent.

Essentially, this is what was happening:

A prospective customer types in the "Alpha Brick" trademark into a search engine (name changed to protect the identity of the company). The results page shows the following ad:

The company's trademark was clearly being violated. Competitors were using a compelling message to shape the conversation against the company and siphon off potential buyers to their site.

There is hope for all of you "Alpha Brick" companies. Search engines require that advertisers agree to terms and conditions stating that the advertiser will not violate the trademark rights of others. The bad news is that enforcing such violations is a difficult task, and most of the burden falls on the owner of the trademark and not the search engines. Below is a quick summary of trademark policies in each of the top three search engines.

MSN/Bing

Policy: Advertisers cannot bid on competitor keywords, use competitor terms in ad copy or any word that infringes the trademark of another company.
Exceptions: Resellers, strictly information sites, and dictionary terms that are trademarks.
How it is enforced: When a trademark is registered, MSN blocks the trademark keywords so that potential competitors cannot bring those terms into their system; however, if you are not registered, MSN will not monitor/enforce any trademark violations.

Yahoo

Policy: Advertisers cannot bid on competitor keywords or use competitor terms in ad copy and ad descriptions. Also, the content of the landing page cannot violate the trademark rights of others.
Exceptions: Resellers and information sites that are not affiliated with any competitor.
How it is enforced: Yahoo has a trademark information database. When a trademark is registered, they will monitor to ensure there is no trademark violation. If a trademark is not registered, they will monitor or enforce any trademark violations.

Google

Policy: Currently, Google allows you to bid on competitor keywords. Google requires that all advertisers do not use competitor keywords in their ad copy and descriptions, but will only enforce if you have a registered trademark inside their system.
Exceptions: Resellers and informational sites, sale of components, replacement parts or compatible products corresponding to a trademark.
How it is enforced: Google will only actively monitor trademark infringement if a trademark is registered inside of Google's system.

360Partners recommends several best practices regarding how to handle trademark infringement. Even if you are not using paid search as a marketing channel, you should still be proactive in following these three suggestions to protect your brand:

Register your trademark with each of the major search engines. Once registered, each of the engines has internal systems to protect trademark infringement. Many violations can be prevented by simply having your trademark registered.
Be proactive in monitoring your trademark. Even if your trademark is registered, you should regularly check to ensure your trademark isn't violated.
Resolve disputes with both the search engine and the violating advertiser. The search engines are not third-party arbiters. The responsibility largely falls on the trademarked company. One benefit of resolving the dispute directly is that the violating advertiser may be doing similar things in other marketing channels or engines.

Protect Your Trademark and Increase Your ROI

360Partners can help you register your trademarks at MSN/Bing, Yahoo and Google. E-mail us at searchmarketing@360partners.com for free assistance securing the appropriate forms and submitting them to our internal contacts.

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Jim McKinley is the founding partner of 360Partners.

About 360Partners: 360Partners is an ad agency which specializes in online lead generation. The company focuses on pay-per-click search engine advertising and website conversion optimization. The company is located in Austin, TX.

Marketing Watchdog Journal is a monthly newsletter from Bulldog Solutions, a lead optimization and lead management company dedicated to helping our clients generate more, better leads and turn them into revenue. We welcome your feedback on this newsletter's content and design, and encourage you to share your ideas for topics you would like us to cover in future issues. Please send your comments or questions about Bulldog Solutions to Amy Bills, Director of Field Marketing.