Geico has sent out cease-and-desist letters to competitors, threatening to take legal action if the term “Geico” is used to send customers to non-Geico websites.


Geico has sent out a dozen or so cease-and-desist letters to competitors, saying now that it has settled its lawsuit against Google it can take legal action against those that purchase the search engine term “Geico” to drive consumers to non-Geico websites.

Geico and Google arrived at an out of court settlement when Geico sued Google in May 2004, accusing it of violating Geico’s trademark by selling the keyword “Geico” to its competitors.

The judge wrote that using “Geico” in the headline or text of a sponsored link ad is trademark infringement but that Google’s selling of those keywords is acceptable.

Monica Richman, head of the trademark department at law firm Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner in New York, says that advertisers need to be aware of how they use others’ names. “In certain circumstances you may buy your competitor’s trademark as your keyword, but be careful that it does not lead to confusion as to source or sponsorship”.

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