Last year, LVMH succesfully sued eBay for failing to police counterfeit sellers.
Now they, and more specifically Louis Vuitton, have sued Google for allegedly courting advertisers with the search word “Vuitton”. Stores, whether they sell counterfeit product or not, pay Google to be the first link on the page post-search which is why things like Bergdorf and Nordstrom are above the actual Phillip Lim site when you search his name.
It’s true that a year ago, or the last time we remember Googling Louis Vuitton, every possible fake in cyber existence popped up. The highlighted clutter is gone now (probably because they’re in court), making it much easier for the consumer to find the legitimate Vuitton sites. (Though the third search down still boasts “Designer Handbag Cloning Master for the past six years.”)
But Google says that they get their money after the ad link is clicked and since it’s the searcher who chooses which link to follow, they’re not doing anything wrong.
If LVMH wins, Google’s inability to sell brand names to advertisers means a hefty chunk of their profit is gone. And even if they don’t win, we can’t imagine Louis Vuitton’s war against those who aid and abet counterfeiters will end in the near future.