There is a judgment that Amazon is responsible for displaying products different from the items registered under trademark in Amazon search results

By~ Erebos

Amazon's search results may be displayed not only for items that match exactly the phrases searched for, but also for similar items. Sometimes, if you do not look closely, you may not know which is real or which is similar, but the decision that Amazon is responsible for causing such confusion came out. The trial court ruled that Amazon is not responsible, but this has been overturned.

(PDF file)United States court of appeals for the ninth circuit - Multi Time Machine, Inc., Plaintiff - Appellant, v. Amazon.com, Inc .; Amazon Service, LLC, Defendants - Appellees.


Appeals court: Amazon can not dodge trademark suit over watch search results | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/07/appeals-court-amazon-cant-dodge-trademark-suit-over-watch-search-results/

This ruling was given as a result of a trial in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, plaintiffs are military clock manufacturersMulti-time machine (MTM).

With the cooperation of the special forces of the US military at MTM "MTM Special Ops (MTM Special Ops)"We are developing and selling military clocks for special operations.


However, when searching on Amazon.com, not only the MTM but also competitor watches were displayed, which was continued. Actually searching on "MTM Special ops" on Amazon.com is like this. In the first place Amazon.com does not seem to be handling MTM Special Ops, but instead another manufacturer's watch is lining up.


The ruling of this time, even if the user recognizes that "I am buying a clock other than MTM", even if the list of search results is "Confusion before purchasing (Initial Interest Confusion)It is an indication that Amazon is responsible for bringing it.

Many companies that have trademarks have filed lawsuits against competitors for "keyword advertisements" in search engines. As a prominent case, since Google sold the keyword "Rosetta Stone" in the Adwords to a third party, Rosetta Stone Inc., a foreign language learning software with the trademark, would display a link to competitors in the search results As breaking the trademark lawWritten lawsuitthere is. In the case of Rosetta StoneSettlement by resolutionHowever, in the case of other lawsuits, because the company holding a trademark is defeated, the winning of MTM may be an important precedent.

By the way, Barry Silverman, one of the cycling judges, said, "Since rational and cautious consumers are accustomed to shopping online, it is not likely to get confused by such things" I am talking.