A Connecticut judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Google by the New Haven law firm Stratton Faxon, which had complained about the use of its name to trigger AdWords ads, Online Media Daily reports.
The judge agreed with Google that Stratton Faxon should have filed its case in federal court, not state court, according to law firm partner Michael Stratton, OMD reported Wednesday on its Web site.
While the firm theoretically could still sue in federal court, Stratton says he doesn’t intend to pursue the matter any further, OMD reports.
“Our objectives had been achieved,” Stratton says. “Nobody dares buy our name from Google AdWords at this point.”
A Google spokesperson said only that the company was pleased with the court’s decision.
Stratton Faxon brought the case last year, after conducting a Google search on its name on seeing ads for the rival law firm Silver, Golub and Teitell.
Stratton Faxon alleged that these ads interfered with the firm’s business relations with clients, engaged in an unfair business practice under Connecticut law, and was unjustly enriched. But the law firm didn’t allege the more typical claim for these types of cases — that Google infringed on the firm’s trademark by allowing a rival to use it to trigger ads.
