Google Goes to Court

Reuters reports that Google is going to face a jury trial that could potentially put its entire business model at risk. The lawsuit centers around an alleged trademark infringement inherent to Google's Adwords program, which is responsible for 98% of Google's revenue. This isn't the first time someone has sued Google over its business model, but Geico settled out of court and Louis Vuitton sued in French court. Having never faced a jury trial before, Google's performance in court could change the face of the Internet economy.

The case was originally filed in 2003 by American Blinds and Wallpaper Factory Inc., the top reseller of window blinds. The suit centers on the ability of American Blinds' competitors to buy the company's name as keywords to link to their sites.

No relevant case law exists to cover keyword advertising, so even if the court finds in favor of Google the appeal process in likely to set the relevant rules of Internet advertising for years to come.

The suit will be heard in San Francisco, which should generally favor Google as the tech savvy community is full of people who love to use Google's various products. But American Blinds is obviously serious about this case given their tenacious pursuit of litigation.

The American legal system is in many ways built on the notion of trial by jury, and now twelve jurors are set to determine the fate of Google's business model and with it much of the Internet economy. Let's hope they're paying attention.