A "new kind of identity theft": Utah bans keyword advertising by rival firms

Nate Anderson, Ars technica

Utah is best known for snow, salt, and Mormons, but the state also has a large business community that has no plans to keep turning the other cheek when it comes to keyword advertising...

This entire issue is really just the extension of comparative advertising into a new medium. As the EFF points out, this sort of thing has been legal in the off-line world for decades. "Comparative advertising uses those shorthand terms to provide more information about the trademarked product and competitive products," says Corynne McSherry."That's why comparative trademark use is clearly protected under federal trademark law. If it weren't, Pepsi wouldn't be able to tell consumers that more people think Pepsi tastes better than Coke, and Apple wouldn't be able to make fun of Microsoft on national television every night."

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