Attempts by Google to dismiss a lawsuit brought by American Airlines have been rejected by a federal court judge, Computerworld reports.The US-based airline filed the lawsuit in August in an attempt to prevent competitors using its trademark to trigger their own advertising on Google.
Commenting on the decision, American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said: "We are pleased by the judge's order denying Google's motion to dismiss our claims.
"American would not have brought its lawsuit against Google if we did not believe in the merits of our claims and the court's order ... ensures that we will have an opportunity to develop and pursue those claims."
Meanwhile, Google expressed disappointment at the verdicts, saying it believed the American Airlines trademark suit "lacks merit".
A spokesman stated: "Google's trademark policy strikes a proper balance between trademark owners' interests and consumer choice and has been validated by prior court decision."
Earlier this year, the search engine successfully defended its practice of permitting advertisers to bid for keywords for trademarked items when American Blind & Wallpaper Factory dropped its four-year legal case.
The settlement, in which Google did not pay any money, was one of a series of lawsuits in which the company overcame objections to its trademark policy.
At the time, Eric Goldman, an assistant law professor at Santa Clara University, issued a warning to firms saying that the capitulation of American Blinds may serve as a reminder that it can be irrational to bring lawsuits over keywords.
