The Norwegian branch of IKEA has been buying Google ads linked to a search term that is the trademark of a competitor.

The Norwegian firm Ekornes produces Stressless, a bestselling brand of recliners that are popular the world over. They were angered when they became aware that IKEA was snatching customers searching for the word “stressless” by way of an ad for IKEA’s own recliners.

IKEA’s response
In a letter to Ekornes, IKEA thanks Ekornes for bringing the matter to their attention. Christen Røhnbæk, communications adviser for IKEA Norway says to the newspaper Aftenposten that the Stressless ad was a mistake and that it is removed.

According to Røhnbæk, the Google Ads campaign is in its early stages and that the plan was to target general search terms. Still, in an article published on the finance portal E24, the journalist discovered similar IKEA ads linked to the trademark Tripp Trapp from Stokke.

Google’s response
Jan Grønnbech of Google Norway asserts that Google takes trademark conflicts like this very seriously. He goes on to say that Google doesn’t recommend campaigns targeting the trademarks of competitors.

Concerned trademark holders can have Google put a general block on ads linked to their trademarks, but this creates problems when the trademark holder wants to hire someone to do a legitimate Adwords campaign.

Ekornes knows what to do
At Ekornes, a strategy to cope with this problem is already in the making: “I think we have to be prepared to use more resources on surveillance,” says Runar Hagen of Ekornes. “Trademark holders should establish routines to identify infringements and take action when they occur.”

See also:
ClickZ: Google Scores Victory in Trademark Case
AdWords Trademark Policy, Part 1 and Part 2