Metatags using third party trade marks on the Internet
Publication Type
Book Chapter
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
12-2020
Abstract
Metatags, which are hidden descriptors inserted in the source code of webpages, were necessary to be tracked by first generation search engines. These search engines were not the most credible because web designers would ‘stuff’ their webpages with favourable metatags. Modern search engines have since evolved and have not used metatags since at least the turn of the century. Nevertheless, there have been several judgments across common law jurisdictions where judges have tackled the issue of whether use of a trademark in the metatags constitutes trademark infringement. The conclusions have been varying because metatags are invisible to the average consumer. The jurisprudence that has resulted from these cases raises interesting questions on whether invisible use constitutes ‘use’ for the purposes of trademark law.
Keywords
Metatags, hidden use, invisible use, adwords, trademark use, trademarks, trademark law
Discipline
Intellectual Property Law | Internet Law
Research Areas
Innovation, Technology and the Law
Publication
Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Digital Technologies
Editor
T. F. Alpin
First Page
411
Last Page
425
ISBN
9781785368332
Publisher
Edward Elgar
City or Country
Cheltenham
Citation
1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.