ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) – A third count has rejected Edible Arrangements’ racketeering lawsuit against Google over its monetization of the search term “edible arrangements.”
Edible IP attempted to hold Google accountable for selling search optimization results with those terms, but a Georgia trial court and the Court of Appeals ruled against the company. They were joined on Feb. 15 by the Georgia Supreme Court.
The company had trouble proving a financial loss.
“Edible IP’s claim for money had and received again relies on its unavailing assertion that, rather than selling advertising space, Google is in essence selling Edible IP’s trade name and illegally profiting from it,” Justice Carla McMillian wrote.
“And, despite Edible IP’s insistence that our courts have previously held that ‘the fact that [money] was received from a third person will not affect [a defendant’s] liability,’ this holding does not change the futility of Edible IP’s claim for money had and received because Edible IP has no claim to the profits that Google has earned by selling advertising.”
Edible IP claimed its case didn’t involve trademark infringement claims. It argued Google wasn’t allowed to sell its name and goodwill to competitors.
In addition to racketeering, it alleged civil theft of personal property, conversion and money had and received.
“(I)t is clear that trade names are only protected from use by others to the extent that such use is deceptive or there is a likelihood of confusion by the public,” McMillian wrote.
“Here, Edible IP has not alleged that Google’s use of the ‘Edible Arrangements’ trade name in its keyword advertising program causes any confusion, and in fact, has disclaimed in the complaint that it is ‘seek[ing] any . . . relief for any consumer confusion.’
“Thus, we see no basis in Georgia statutory law for Edible IP’s claim that Google has appropriated the ‘Edible Arrangements’ trade name simply by using it in Google’s algorithms and keyword advertising programs.”