
Google wins! LVMH wins!
Only it’s the same case. And they’re on opposite sides.
Is this as Euro-law thing? Something particularly Frankish?
No, it’s an Internet law thing. A 21st-century thing. And the French have the same problem we do: Judges are trying to figure out what “the law is” about keyword advertising, but “the law” of trademark infringement and unfair competition predates keyword advertising.
Analogy only gets you so far. And the answer to the problem is the same over there as it is over here: Policymakers — whatever they call those in France these days — make some policy! Tout de suite.
Anyone reading French can download the four decisions issued by the Cour de Cassation from my blog: http://www.pmdm.fr/wp/2010/07/14/cassation-dans-les-affaires-adwords/
I believe you can download them even if you don’t read French.
But I’m not going to risk trying…