@article{42156,
      recid = {42156},
      author = {Lastowka, Greg},
      title = {Google's Law},
      pages = {70 pages},
      abstract = {Google has become, for the majority of Americans, the  index of choice for online information. Through dynamically  generated results pages keyed to a near-infinite variety of  search terms, Google steers our thoughts and our learning  online. It tells us what words mean, what things look like,  where to buy things, and who and what is most important to  us. Google's control over results constitutes an awesome  ability to set the course of human knowledge.  As this  paper will explain, fortunes are won and lost based on  Google's results pages, including the fortunes of Google  itself. Because Google's results are so significant to  e-commerce activities today, they have already been the  subject of substantial litigation. Today's courtroom  disputes over Google's results are based primarily, though  not exclusively, in claims about the requirements of  trademark law. This paper will argue that the most powerful  trademark doctrines shaping these cases, initial interest  confusion and trademark use, are not up to the task they  have been given, but that trademark law must continue to  stay engaged with Google's results.  The current  application of initial interest confusion to search results  represents a hyper-extension of trademark law past the  point of its traditional basis in preventing consumer  confusion. Courts should reject initial interest confusion  doctrine due to its tendency to grant trademark owners  rights over search results that could easily operate  against the greater public interest. On the other hand, the  recent innovation of trademark use doctrine improperly  relieves trademark law of any role in the supervision of  the shape of Google's search results. The absence of any  state involvement in the shape Google's results will  effectively cede the structure of our primary online index  to Google's law. Google may enjoy substantial public  goodwill, but what is best for Google will not always be  what is best for society.},
      url = {http://tind.wipo.int/record/42156},
}