"Did You Mean…?" Amazon Search Suggestions Violate Trademark, Ninth Circuit Says

Does Amazon violate trademark rules when customers searching for a particular brand’s products – that the site doesn’t carry – are instead sent to similar products offered by the brand’s competitors? The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court thinks so, but Eric Goldman, writing in Forbes, says the ruling hinges on a “lousy” 2004 definition of the controversial initial interest confusion doctrine. The doctrine states that initial interest confusion occurs when a customer’s confusion about the source of a product actually creates initial interest in a competitor’s product. “What a terrible definition!” Goldman writes. He suggests that Amazon may seek an en banc rehearing, though the company may win at jury trial, “because both opinions acknowledged … difficulty showing that any customers had actually been confused.”