The German Federal Supreme Court decides on Trademark Infringement in Internet Search Engines

A company that uses a term (“power ball”) which can be confused with the trademark of a third party (“POWER BALL”) in a product description on its website in a specific line which it knows will be searched by internet search engines is held to be infringing the trademark if the search engine shows the terms together as hits. It suffices to be considered use of the mark if the term used as a search word influences the results of the search engine’s selection process and leads the user to the company’s website.