In a move to match Google’s trademark policy in selling search advertising, Microsoft announced this week that it will follow suit and allow customers to bid on trademarked keywords which trigger competitive advertising. The line in the sand will be drawn at trademarks still not being allowed in the text of any advertisement.
The policy, which goes into effect March 3, continues to raise interesting trademark “use in commerce” questions for clients around the world. Google has been involved in litigation on the issue, but court decisions in combination with industry standard seem to indicate that the practice is becoming the internet standard moving forward.
Eric Goldman, our friend at the Technology and Marketing Law Blog, was among the first to report the change. He has also had some of the best coverage of the Trademark Law and Google AdWords cases over the years.