Using your competitor's trademarks as keywords? Proceed at your own risk
The Court of Appeal for British Columbia has issued an injunction restraining a party from using its competitor’s trademarks in its keyword advertising. While the Court of Appeal stopped short of finding that bidding on keywords in and of itself is contrary to the Trade-marks Act, it did find that in this case, the Defendant’s use of the Plaintiff’s trademarks as keywords in the visible text of its sponsored link was a misrepresentation likely to cause confusion to the public.
