Online Advertising – Can I Sue Competitors for Copying My Trademark in Websites’ Metatags to Improve Rankings in Search Engines?
International Business Articles
ONC Lawyers
Hong Kong
Online Advertising – Can I Sue Competitors for Copying My Trademark in Websites’ Metatags
(Source Code Tags) to Improve Rankings in Search Engines?
With the advancement of technology nowadays, companies are keen to promote their goods or services through the Internet. In particular, having a strong online presence is desirable for website owners as they always want their websites to appear as the first result at Google search when the keywords of their business interest are being searched for. A successful online presence would help consumers to easily identify their products so as to stand out from the crowd.
Many companies adopt “search engine optimisation” strategies as their marketing tactics to attract online traffic. By doing so, website owners may rely on metatags to improve their rankings in the search engines’ result pages. However, it raises the question of whether a website owner would be infringing others’ rights if the metatags (the invisible data on their website) they have chosen are other’s registered trademarks?
This article explores the potential liability of website owners in copying others’ trademarks as metatags for the purpose of achieving higher ranking in search engine results.
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December 2014