Footwear brand Dr Martens is suing online retailer Temu, alleging it’s manipulating Google searches so that lookalike products appear above its own brands.
The High Court claim, lodged last week, alleges trademarks infringement agains the Chinese rival, claiming Temu paid Google “to advertise boots sold on its site when users searched keywords including ‘Dr Martens’ and ‘Airwair’ in certain markets’, reported The Times.
This placed Temu’s lookalike products above Dr Martens’ own in search results, it’s claimed.
Temu also sells cheaper versions of clothing produced by companies including Adidas, Fred Perry and Lacoste.
The report said Google’s advertising policies stipulate that it does not allow ads that infringe trademark rights, but the search giant doesn’t restrict advertisers from using trademarks as keywords.
Dr Martens declined to comment on its case against Temu. The Chinese company also hasn’t commented.
Temu’s owner, the Chinese e-commerce group PDD Holdings, last month unveiled a 90% leap in annual sales of $34.9 billion (£28 billion) on the back of Temu’s rocketing growth.
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