Google triumphs over Vuitton

The designer group argued the Google search engine infringed trademark law by allowing other advertisers the right to buy online keywords relating to other firms' trademarks.

Louis Vuitton had previously won a French court action, successfully claiming the internet giant was acting illegally by allowing other companies to use the Vuitton name as a key search words for other adverts on Google. And it argued people searching for branded products could be shown rival brands or counterfeit goods.

Google's Adword service, which allows companies to bid for places in the sponsored listings at the top and to the right of the natural search results generated by a query, is a key source of revenue for the company.

The internet search engine insisted it already had strict policies covering the advertising of counterfeit goods.

And the EU judges backed its claim the system helped advertisers reach their target audience a nd that trademark rights were not breached in the process.

But advertisers using the search engine's "AdWords" service were warned they could fall foul of trademark laws if they abuse the system and confuse consumers.