8-2-2018
Jensen Jewelers, which owns 14fine jewellery stores in the United States has filed a lawsuit against Zales, one of the largest fine jewellers on rerouting Google searched to Zales’ website.
Before the Black Friday season in 2016, Jensen discovered that typing in ‘Jensen Jewelers’ on Google brought up an online advertisement for Zales, a jeweller which owns over 700 stores. The heading included in the 10 pages complaint shows “Jensen Jewelers — Black Friday 35% Off Storewide — zales.com.” Customers who clicked on it were taken to a Zales page.
Jensen accuses Zales of misappropriating its name to divert searchers to its own website. The allegation included unfair competition, false designation of origin, trademark infringement and unjust enrichment. The jewellery seller is seeking an order that would prevent Zales from using its name in the future, along with damages (payment) to be determined at trial.
Lawsuits alleging the unfair manipulation of search results have become more common in the past few years, and Google itself is often the defendant.
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