Google did not have the right to sell trademark protected names to advertisers that triggered "sponsored links" when the name was used in an internet search, Louis Vuitton told the EU's highest court on Tuesday.
Google, the owner of the world's most-used internet search engine, and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton have been locked in a six-year fight over internet searches that link users to sites selling counterfeit fashion accessories.
Google is appealing a 2006 ruling by a Paris court that it had breached Louis Vuitton's trademark rights.
"Google makes money not by reason of the nature of the keyword but by someone clicking on the keyword," Google lawyer Alexandra Neri told a 15-judge panel of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
The case is the EU tribunal's first on whether companies in the 27-nation region can block search engines from using trademarked brand names to trigger search results. Internet ads tied to search results generate most of Google's revenue.
"Google's advertisement activities have given companies selling fake products unprecedented visibility beyond their wildest dreams," Louis Vuitton lawyer Patrice de Cande told the court.
LVMH sued in 2003 and the Paris Central Court in 2006 ordered Google to pay LVMH €300 000 (R3.9 million) for trademark infringement.
France's highest appeals court last year referred the case to the EU tribunal. A ruling is expected by 2010.
Whether keywords were protected under EU trademark law was "of great concern" to brand owners and "the most important case for the e-commerce industry", said lawyer Stijn Debaene with Allen & Overy. - Bloomberg