Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Credit: Jason Doiy/The RecorderLife, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Customers: Developments on ‘Conquesting’ from the Ninth Circuit
In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed the issue of whether purchasing market competitors’ search engine keyword terms, known as “conquesting,” constitutes trademark infringement.
December 23, 2024 at 01:11 PM
8 minute read
What You Need to Know
- The Lanham Act aims to safeguard consumers from marketplace confusion.
- The crux of 'Lerner & Rowe' is whether the purchase of a competitor’s search engine keyword terms to appear near the top of consumers’ online search, results in fodder for a claim of trademark infringement under the Lanham Act.
- For now, conquesting is alive and well in the Ninth Circuit. Outside of the Ninth Circuit, the questions presented in the concurrence in 'Lerner & Rowe' should not fall on inattentive ears.
By Howard Shire and Di’Vennci K. Lucas
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