1-800 Contacts Unlawfully Restricted Competitors’ Trademark Use in Search Engine Marketing

This report was originally published by Davis & Gilbert. 

Below is a Davis & Gilbert Digital Media, Technology & Privacy Alert written by Gary Kibel, Partner, and Marc Rachman, Partner, on the FTC’s recent decision that agreements reached by 1-800 Contacts, Inc. with a number of its competitors unlawfully restricted the competitors’ ability to engage in search engine marketing, to the detriment of both consumers and search engines.

The FTC concluded that the restrictions regarding the use of trademarks as keywords in the challenged agreements constituted unfair methods of competition and it prohibited 1-800 Contacts from enforcing those advertising provisions and from entering into similar agreements in the future.