American Airlines And Google Settle Keyword Advertising Spat

from the too-bad-it's-secret dept

Despite lawsuit after lawsuit ruling in favor of Google whenever a company sued Google because one of their own competitors was buying keywords based on their trademarks, American Airlines decided to get in on the game as well. Since American Airlines was probably the biggest company to take on Google in this manner, some undoubtedly were hoping that it might actually be able to succeed. However, the two companies have now settled the case. And, while the terms of the deal remain secret, Eric Goldman checked the ads on Google and doesn't see anything that indicates that Google has changed its usual practice of allowing non-confusing ads.

In other words, it sounds like American Airlines lawyers finally looked at the details of earlier rulings and realized the company had close to no chance of winning this. A trademark does not give the holder complete control over the use of the word, and a competitor using the word for competitive advertising is completely legal, so long as they're not using it in a way that is likely to confuse a consumer. Even more important, if there's any liability, it should be on the other advertisers, not Google, which is merely the platform provider.

Filed Under: keyword ads, settlement, trademarks
Companies: american airlines, google

WiFi On Airplanes Coming. Does That Mean Airborne Skype?

from the we-can-hope dept

The New York Times says that several airlines are testing in-flight Internet services. JetBlue will apparently be offering free, but crippled service that includes only email and instant messaging. And Crunchgear suggests it will be even more crippled than that: only Yahoo! and BlackBerry-based mail and IM will be supported. For a lot of travelers (including me) that will be completely useless, although I guess something is better than nothing. At the opposite extreme, American (along with Alaska Air) is reportedly working on full-featured Internet access that will allow you to use the applications of your choice, but it will apparently cost around $10. The Times also notes the most intriguing possibility for this service: that Internet access may mean the ability to make VoIP-based phone calls. It's not clear that the Internet connection will be good enough to make phone calls practical initially, but as technology advances, it's only a matter of time before there's enough bandwidth to make calls practical.

The Times calls this a "pitfall" and says that American won't permit Internet-based phone calls. But I have trouble imagining that ban sticking. Once it becomes technologically feasible to make calls, it will be extremely difficult for airlines to enforce a no-calls rule. There's no automated way to block phone calls, and stewardesses will have a difficult time policing the activities of dozens of passengers. The only way it would work is if the caller's neighbor was willing to rat him out, and I suspect that fellow passengers are a lot more opposed to the idea of cell phones on airplanes in the abstract than they would be about an actual cell phone caller in the seat next to them. After all, cell phone calls are commonplace on buses and trains, and while they're occasionally annoying, they're no more annoying than a loud real-life conversation or a crying baby. There's no groundswell of support for banning cell phone calls on public transit, despite the fact that the annoyance factor is exactly the same. One possibility is that we'd see different airlines cater to different customers, with some airlines aggressively prohibiting airplane-based phone calls and others allowing them. My guess is that business travelers, who generate a disproportionate share of airline revenues, will find the ability to get work done on the airplane to be worth the minor inconvenience of occasionally having to listen to a neighbor's phone call, and so airlines that permit calls will be more profitable.

Filed Under: in-flight wireless, voip, wifi
Companies: american airlines, jetblue

American Airlines The Latest To Sue Google Over Trademarked Keywords

from the don't-they-have-more-important-things-to-focus-on? dept

You would think that with a number of judges already stating that keyword advertising based on a trademarked term is not trademark infringement that companies would stop filing such lawsuits. Apparently, you'd be wrong. And, oddly, the latest company to file such a lawsuit isn't a small no-name company (as is usually the case), but American Airlines who is suing Google for showing ads when people search on American Airlines. There are many problems with this lawsuit. First and foremost, suing Google is going after the wrong party. Google isn't the one doing the advertising, they're simply providing the billboard on which advertisers can write what they want. If there is infringement, then it should be the liability of the advertisers, not Google. Second, it's most likely not trademark infringement. Trademarks, unlike copyrights and patents, aren't designed to give the company full control, but just to prevent customer confusion. As long as the ads aren't misleading people into thinking that clicking on them will take them to American Airlines' own site, then it's hard to see how it's trademark infringement. It's perfectly legal (and good business) to advertise in a place when someone is looking for the competition. That's why you see discount coupons in supermarkets right next to competing products. Also, American Airlines is apparently complaining that some of the advertisers, while legally selling American Airlines tickets, also sell competitors' tickets. There's absolutely nothing illegal about that. If a company legitimately sells AA tickets, and someone does a search on American Airlines, why shouldn't they be able to point out that they sell AA tickets -- even if they also sell someone else's tickets? So far, most of these lawsuits end up going quite poorly for the complaining company, so this seems like it's likely going to be a waste of time and money for American Airlines, at a time when it would seem like they have a lot more pressing problems to be solving.

Filed Under: keyword advertising, trademarks
Companies: american airlines, google

Two Airlines Move Ahead With In-Flight Internet Plans

from the looking-through-the-clouds dept

One of the many modern tech myths seems to be the idea that in-flight internet access is guaranteed to be a success, even though this has proven not to be the case. The supposed demand for the service among travelers hasn't been enough to overcome the cost of the service, both for airlines and end users, and technical barriers, as highlighted by the failure of Boeing's much-hyped Connexion service. Now, however, one of the airlines that offered Connexion, Lufthansa, says it's working with T-Mobile to bring back in-flight internet access, while American has signed a deal with AirCell to offer its service to travelers on some planes. Lufthansa wants a system that supports WiFi, but also SMS and cellular data, though it won't allow cellular voice calls; American plans to test WiFi access on some transcontinental domestic flights before deciding whether to proceed. The American system will differ from Connexion in that it won't use satellites, but an air-to-ground radio system, explaining why it will only be available domestically. Hopefully this will translate into lower costs for consumers than the $30 per flight Connexion charged, otherwise the service will suffer the same fate. Lufthansa is reportedly looking at a satellite-based system for its long-haul flights, and unless it's figured out some way to slash the costs of such a system and pass the savings on to consumers, it's hard to see things working out any better this time around.

Filed Under: airlines
Companies: aircell, american airlines, boeing, lufthansa