© Metatags
A number of cases have been brought that involve the use of federally registered trade names as metatags. Most cases involving metatags have been settled out of court with the parties agreeing to remove the metatags of registered trademarks.
Example:
In one of the first cases involving metatags, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Calvin Designer Labels (1997), the court issued a preliminary injunction against the defendant's use of the federally registered trade names PLAYBOY and PLAYMATE as metatags. The ruling was based on the argument that the use of the metatags had the potential of deceiving consumers into believing that Playboy authorized the Web site of the defendant since search engines, when asked to locate Internet sites containing "Playboy" or "Playmate" would list the defendant's site. Because the court found that the plaintiff was likely to succeed on the claims of trademark infringement, dilution, and unfair competition, it granted preliminary injunctive relief. The court ordered the defendant to cease all use of the plaintiff's trademarks, including use in metatags on the defendant's home page or Web pages, or in conjunction with the advertising or promotion of its Web sites.In the 1998 case, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Terri Welles, Playboy charged the defendant, Terri Welles, a former Playmate of the Year, with trademark infringement, dilution, and unfair competition for using PLAYBOY and PLAYMATE as metatags and displaying the term "Playmate of the Year" on her personal Web site. The court held that the "fair use" defense applied since the mark was used only to describe the goods or services of the party or their geographic origin. According to the court, Welles merely used the term "Playmate of the Year" to describe herself. Playboy lost again on appeal.
