Feature Articles
The Search Engine Economy's Achilles Heel?
In today's Internet economy, search engines play an increasingly important role in helping consumers locate goods and services. However, search engines may also allow unauthorized online retailers to misuse trademarks as keywords and metatags in ways that can boost their placement in search engine results and increase online sales. For instance, a person other than a trademark holder may purchase a trademarked word or phrase as a search engine keyword (keyword misuse), or may insert them as hidden HTML code on webpages (metatag misuse). Where a website that misuses trademarks in this manner then offers the trademarked goods or services for sale online without a license from the original producer, consumers may be deceived as to the source of those goods and services, and the value of the trademark might be diminished.
This article proposes that the international trademark law regime, specifically TRIPs, should be revised to prevent keyword and metatag misuse where it is likely to result in unlicensed Internet sales. It suggests that the Internet should be treated like any other market for goods, albeit one that is inherently global. Thus, unlicensed Internet sales should be considered parallel imports and proscribed just as unlicensed sales would be in any other geographical territory. It then explores the international trade implications of proscribing these “gray market†sales under TRIPs rather than domestic (E.U. or U.S.) trademark law or transnational law. Finally, this article provides an economic justification for the proposed change based on the “Bottom of the Pyramid†(BOP) model, and illustrates its positive effects on global welfare, particularly in developing nations.
STLR is proud to present: The Search Engine Economy's Achilles Heel? Addressing Online Parallel Imports Resulting from Keyword and Metatag Misuse, by Manavinder S. Bains.