Amazon.com Search Results May Create Confusion by Pointing to Competitor Goods

Amazon.com Inc.'s failure to specify that it does not carry a searched-for brand’s products while displaying competing products could constitute trademark infringement on an initial interest confusion theory, the U.S. Circuit Court for the Ninth Circuit held July 6 in a 2-1 decision (Multi Time Machine, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 9th Cir., 13-55575, 7/6/15).

The court said that unlike several other prominent e-merchants, Amazon had failed to take steps to prevent confusion by first indicating that no search results matched the inquiry before displaying competitors’ products.

The decision is a setback for multi-purpose e-commerce sites that must be ...