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Google France, Google Inc. v Louis Vuitton Malletier
Comment
Although a decision on trade marks, this decision is of wider significance as it is the first judgment of the European Court of Justice (or as it is now, the 'Court of Justice of the European Union') on the terms of the hosting defence in Article 14, which applies to all forms of liability, including copyright and defamation (see eg Bunt v Tilley). Of particular importance is the clear message that the fact that a search engine, such as Google, receives payment for some of the services it offers is irrelevant to the application of Article 14. The decision does however leave many questions unanswered. While the central tenor of the decision focuses upon the role a search engine or information society service plays in the conduct sought to be impugned, it leaves unanswered the central question: what conduct is required before it can be said that such conduct is something more than merely technical, automatic and passive.