Fourth Circuit Resurrects Rosetta Stone’s Challenge To Google’s AdWords Program

On Monday, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court's decision ending Rosetta Stone's trademark infringement case against Google. Rosetta Stone's complaint, filed in 2009, alleged that Google infringed Rosetta Stone's trademark rights by selling its trademarks as keywords to third-party competitors without Rosetta Stone's permission. Under Google's AdWords program, Google offers advertisers the ability to select certain keywords that will trigger a "sponsored link" to the advertiser's chosen website. Google displays the "sponsored link" above or next to the organic search results. The Rosetta Stone trademarks at issue, which Google included as keywords in its AdWords program, included "language library," "global traveller" and "Rosetta Stone," among others. Rosetta Stone alleged that Google's sale of its trademarks to unrelated third parties for use in sponsored advertising caused consumers to follow the unaffiliated sponsored link