On Thursday, 22 September 2011, Justice Nicholas, in the Federal
Court of Australia, found that Google was not liable for misleading
or deceptive conduct in relation to Google's publication of
certain sponsored links on its website.
The case, brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission ("ACCC") in 2007, follows a
trend of cases against Google and other search engine operators
around the world testing the extent to which Google (and others)
are liable for allowing the publication of infringing or misleading
advertisements on their websites. While the majority of the cases
brought to date have been based on trade mark infringement claims,
the ACCC's case against Google was brought under the Australian
consumer protection legislation.
