IPA advising members to be cautious about brand bidding

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising is advising members to exercise caution before carrying out competitor brand & trademark bidding on search engines.

The statement comes after the Interflora vs Marks & Spencers case earlier this week.

Advertisers and their agencies are advised to exercise caution before purchasing and using competitors’ trademarks as advertising key words via internet search engines. This follows a recommendation that was made by the Advocate General to the European Court of Justice last week in the Interflora v Marks & Spencer case, which details two ways in which use of a trade mark as a key word by an advertiser, may constitute trade mark infringement.

This shows just how seriously people are taking the opinion. The future of brand bidding could be limited.

BY Patrick Altoft AT 4:08pm ON Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Branded3 and has worked in the SEO industry for over 10 years. With experience across some of the worlds largest brands as well as startup businesses Patrick is well known in the industry and speaks regularly at the major SEO conferences and events. Follow Patrick on Twitter or Google+