At the end of last month, the long-awaited judgment in the Interflora v Marks and Spencer case on trade mark infringement as it relates to keyword advertising was delivered by Mr Justice Arnold. The case dates back to 2008, when Interflora brought a case against Marks and Spencer for its purchase and use of the search terms "interflora", "interflora.co.uk" and "interflora delivery" in order to drive traffic to its own site. The case required that a number of complex issues of European trade mark law be referred to the CJEU. The CJEU found that keyword advertising is not inherently or inevitably objectionable from a trade mark perspective. In fact, it argued, as a general rule, keyword advertising can promote healthy competition. However, an infringement may occur where a "reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant internet user" believes that the advertiser is economically connected with, or its goods or services originate from, the trade mark owner. For a full analysis of the recent High Court decision, please see Reed Smith's recent Client Alert on the subject, written by Media and Technology Partners, Nick Swimer and Gregor Pryor, and Commercial Disputes Partner, Carolyn Pepper, available here.
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