Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

The maker of a range of diet products called “Body Solution” is suing four search engines in a Texas court for allegedly auctioning its trade marks to competitors wanting their products to appear at the top of the search results.

Mark Nutritionals Inc. has sued AltaVista, Kanoodle, FindWhat and Overture. It is demanding $10 million in actual damages and $100 million in punitive damages from each company, according to a report by The Recorder.

The company describes the practice of “pay for placement” as tantamount to extortion and internet piracy where trade marks are involved. It is claiming trade mark infringement and dilution, unfair competition and violations of a Texas code of commerce.

A key factor in the case is likely to be whether consumers are confused by the results. As an example, the following is the first result of a search on “Body Solutions” in Overture.com today:

Thermo-Lift Night vs Body Solutions
Compare with Thermo-lift Night Solutions and save over 30%! Side-by-side comparison! Come see the difference and save! Buy two, get one free special! Free shipping.
www.twinlabproducts.com (Cost to advertiser: $0.10)

The official site of Body Solutions appears in position number seven. The top five sites state the “Cost to advertiser”. The only other site above the official site appears to be a non-paying competitor.

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