Despite its legal efforts, Amazon will have to go to trial over a trademark lawsuit, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
High-end watchmaker Multi Time Machine has filed a lawsuit against Amazon for displaying search results of its competitors when shoppers search for its Special Ops watch style, which Amazon does not sell. A 2-1 opinion from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed a lower court ruling from 2013, according to Reuters.
Multi Time Machine argues that the way Amazon displays these search results can lead a shopper to purchase a competitor’s product under the impression that it’s a Multi Time Machine watch since the online retailer doesn’t clearly warn them that the product isn’t available through its site. The court agreed with the company.
In his dissent, Judge Barry Silverman said this shouldn’t be an issue because Amazon labels each watch with its manufacturer.
Multi Time Machine is suing trademark infringement grounds, saying that Amazon is using its trademarked “Special Ops” name without permission.
