Intellectual Property…The Devil’s In The “Related Search” Details.

Plaintiff is the manufacturer of high-end military style watches, known as MTM Special Ops watches. Defendant, retailer Amazon.com, does not sell these watches, but when a potential buyer inserts “MTM Special Ops” onto its website, a message will direct the person to related searches of “MTM special ops watch,” and show images of watches manufactured by plaintiff’s competitors. Plaintiff claims Amazon infringes its trademark because of the manner in which it responds to a shopper’s search request for trademarked goods. The trial court judge granted summary judgment in favor of Amazon, finding its use of plaintiff’s trademark created no likelihood of confusion as a matter of law. The Ninth Circuit reversed:  “[W]e think a jury could find that Amazon has created a likelihood of confusion.” (Multi Time Mach., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. (Ninth Cir.; July 6, 2015) 792 F.3d 1070.)