Trademarks

Raising Trademark Concerns about Sponsored Search^TM Listings

Advertisers sometimes bid on search terms that are the trademarks of others. For bids on search terms in Yahoo! Search Marketing's Sponsored Search service, Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture Services, Inc.) requires advertisers to agree that their search terms, their listing titles and descriptions, and the content of their Web sites do not violate the trademark rights of others. In cases in which an advertiser has bid on a term that may be the trademark of another, Yahoo! Search Marketing allows the bids only if the advertiser presents content on its Web site that (a) refers to the trademark or its owner or related product in a permissible nominative manner without creating a likelihood of consumer confusion (for example, sale of a product bearing the trademark, or commentary, criticism or other permissible information about the trademark owner or its product) or (b) uses the term in a generic or merely descriptive manner. In addition, the advertiser's listing should disclose the nature of the relevant content.

As applied to nominative uses of another's trademark, Yahoo! Search Marketing requires advertisers to meet one of the following two conditions:

1. Reseller: The advertiser's site must sell (or clearly facilitate the sale of) the product or service bearing the trademark. The advertiser's title and description must disclose that the consumer will be able to purchase the product or service. The advertiser's title and description should not be written in a way that creates the impression that the advertiser is an authorized reseller unless the trademark owner has in fact designated the advertiser as an authorized reseller.
2. Information Site, Not Competitive: The primary purpose of the advertiser's site is to provide substantial information (for example, detailed product reviews or comparisons provided by unbiased sources, commentary, or news information) about the trademark owner or products or services bearing the trademark, AND the advertiser's site does not sell or promote, and is not an affiliate or partner of an entity that sells or promotes, a product or service that directly or indirectly competes with the trademark owner's products or services. The advertiser's title and description must disclose the nature of the qualifying substantial information that the consumer will find on the advertiser's site.

If you have a concern that a search term associated with an advertiser's listing is an improper use of a term that is a trademark, Yahoo! Search Marketing will review the advertiser's listing for compliance with our relevancy guidelines and, if appropriate, Yahoo! Search Marketing will remove the advertiser's listing or the content of the listing's title or description will be modified. In order to assist Yahoo! Search Marketing in expeditiously addressing your concern, please provide the following information:

1. The search term which, when entered, caused the advertiser's listing to appear.
2. The trademark on which your claim is based.
3. If you own a current registration for the trademark on the Principal Register in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the registration number.
4. If you have evidence of any consumer confusion resulting from the advertiser's bid on the search term, a description of such evidence.
5. If you have contacted the advertiser about your concerns, the status of your communications with the advertiser.

Please forward this information to Yahoo! Search Marketing at the following email address: trademarkconcern-ysm@yahoo-inc.com. You may also mail your concerns to:

Yahoo! Search Marketing
Attn: Trademark Department
3333 Empire Avenue
Burbank, California 91504
Fax: 818 524-3001

If your concern is about links or advertising content appearing on a domain in our Domain Match program, please click here for more information about Yahoo! Search Marketing's notification procedure.

If your concern is about a Local Sponsored Search listing, please click here for more information about Yahoo! Search Marketing's notification and counter-notification procedure for Local Sponsored Search listings.