Rosetta Stone, a provider of technology-based language-learning products, has sued Google for trademark infringement. The company has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, asserting that the change in search giant’s policy allows third parties, including software pirates, to use its brand without authorisation.
Rosetta Stone said that Google has changed its Adwords policy to allow advertisers to use its trademarks in their ad text even if they do not own the trademark or have approval to use it.
The company is seeking injunctive relief to prevent Google from selling the Rosetta Stone trademarks, or other terms confusingly similar, for use in Google’s Adwords advertising programme.
Michael Wu, general counsel of Rosetta Stone, said: “Google’s search engine is helping third parties mislead consumers and misappropriate Rosetta Stone trademarks by using them as ‘keyword’ triggers for paid advertisements and by using them within the text or title of paid advertisements.
“Google and its advertisers benefit financially from and trade off the goodwill and reputation of Rosetta Stone without incurring the substantial expense that Rosetta Stone has incurred in building up its popularity, name recognition, and brand loyalty.”
