LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, said on Friday it sued Internet search leader Google Inc for selling search words involving its name.
The claim is the latest in a string of cases filed worldwide by businesses that argue Google’s pay-per-click advertising system, its main source of revenue, is used unfairly by competitors to grab business.
The Web search company has prevailed in at least two similar U.S. cases, including a lawsuit brought by auto insurer GEICO, but still faces trial later this year in California by American Blinds and Wallpaper as well as overseas claims.
The American Airlines lawsuit, filed on Thursday in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Texas, accuses Google of violating trademark laws with its practice of selling search terms such as “American Airlines” or “AA.com” to other companies for advertising.
The airline accuses Google of selling the right to use American Airlines’ trademarks and service marks or “words, phrases, or terms confusingly similar to those marks” to competitors who then direct searchers to their own Web pages.