Estee Lauder v. iBeauty
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Sale of Estee Lauder, Clinique and Origins trademarks by search engine Excite to iBeauty for use as Internet search keywords was found to have "improperly exploited the brands' reputation" in Hamburg, Germany district court, according to Estee Lauder. The Feb. 16 ruling prohibits iBeauty and Excite from using the keywords to trigger advertising and from displaying the Lauder trademarks within iBeauty banner ads. The companies also are enjoined from shipping diverted products from the U.S. to Germany. Two additional lawsuits are pending, one in France and one filed in January 1999 in Manhattan district court (1"The Rose Sheet" Feb. 8, 1999, p. 13)