Rosetta Stone Sues Google for Trademark Infringement

ARLINGTON, VA - Rosetta Stone, a leading provider of technology-based language-learning solutions, announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Google Inc., seeking to prevent Google from infringing upon its trademarks, according to Rosetta.

In its lawsuit, Rosetta Stone asserts that Google allows third parties including individuals involved in software piracy operations to purchase the right to use Rosetta Stone trademarks or other terms confusingly similar in Google’s Adwords advertising program.

In June 2009, Google changed its policy stating that “advertisers will be allowed to use trademark terms in their ad text even if they do not own that trademark or have explicit approval from the trademark owner to use it.”

“Google’s search engine is helping third parties mislead consumers and misappropriate Rosetta Stone trademarks by using them as ‘keyword’ triggers for paid advertisements and by using them within the text or title of paid advertisements,” Mr. Michael Wu, general counsel, Rosetta Stone said.

“Google and its advertisers benefit financially from and trade off the goodwill and reputation of Rosetta Stone without incurring the substantial expense that Rosetta Stone has incurred in building up its popularity, name recognition, and brand loyalty,” he added.

With its lawsuit, Rosetta Stone is seeking, among other things, injunctive relief to prevent Google from selling the Rosetta Stone trademarks or other terms confusingly similar for use in Google’s Adwords advertising program.