Cases

Google France, Google Inc. v Louis Vuitton Malletier

Facts

The three conjoined cases (Cases C-236-08, C-237-08 and C-238-08) concerned claims by the three respondents, Vuitton, Viaticum and Thonet against Google alleging a number of trade mark violations.  In summary, the violations alleged against Google arose as a result of the entry by internet users of their trade mark names into Google's search engine, which trigerred the display, under the heading 'sponsored links', of links to, In respect of Vuitton, sites offering imitation versions of Vuitton's products, and in respect of Viaticum and Thonet , of links to competitors of their respective trademarks.

In each case the disputes arose from the use, as keywords in an internet referencing service, of signs which correspond to trade marks, without consent having been given by the proprietor of those trademarks. 

One distinct question before the ECJ was whether Google could rely upon the hosting exemption for 'information society services' in Article 14 of Directive 2000/31.

Also