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French insurance giant fights Google ad strategy

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Google is already embroiled in litigation on both sides of the Atlantic over claims that its pay-for-placement service, Adwords, allows clients to hijack their competitors' trademarks.

The growing mass of litigation over trademarks in advertising could weigh on Google's expected multibillion-dollar stock market launch, experts say.

A preliminary hearing on the insurer's allegations of "brand counterfeiting" is set for May 10 in Paris, a court official said.

Both companies have confirmed litigation is pending but declined to say how much AXA was seeking in damages. Under French court procedures, details will not be made public until later hearings.

A source close to the Paris-based insurer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the lawsuit was filed after Google sold AXA's registered trademarks as advertising search terms.

Internet users who typed "AXA" or "Direct Assurance" into the search engine got ads for rival insurers alongside ordinary search results, the source said.

A Google search in Paris Thursday of "AXA" reaped mostly AXA sites and one U.K. financial planning site.

In the United States, retailers American Blind and Wallpaper Factory and Pets Warehouse are pursuing separate lawsuits alleging that Google used their trademarks to trigger ads from rivals.

The lawsuits have arisen despite Google's stated policy that it will generally remove ads triggered by registered trademarks when notified by their legitimate owners.

Google is about to relax that policy. Earlier this month, it announced plans to allow the sale of any U.S. or Canadian trademark as a search term. Trademarks in the text of ads would remain restricted.
 
Korean Air to install Boeing's Connexion

Korean Air said today it will offer Boeing's Internet and e-mail system to passengers on lon-haul flights starting early next year.

Asia's fifth-largest carrier said it had signed a letter of intent to install the Connexion system on 33 Boeing 777-200 and 747-400 aircraft.

It also plans to offer the services on Airbus A380 planes.

The airline didn't reveal the value of the contract or how much revenue it may get from the online service.

Korean Air plans to invest $92 million by 2009 to improve its in-flight services.

Its first-class section will feature wraparound "cocoon" seats, on-demand audio and video services.

Dell to start selling printers in China, Japan this year

Dell plans to introduce its printers to China and Japan this year after sales in Australia exceeded the company's forecast, said Bill Amelio, president for the company's Asia-Pacific region.

He declined to give sales targets.

President Kevin Rollins in February forecast Round Rock, Texas-based Dell will more than double output of printers this fiscal year to more than 4 million units.

Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest printer maker, shipped 43 million units in its last fiscal year.

Dell began shipping printers in March 2003 to tap sales of replaceable ink cartridges, which investors say are the most profitable portion of the devices. The company introduced the product to Australia in December.

Company to sell copies of college texts online

Pearson Education said it would sell copies of college texts online for half the price of printed versions.

Offered through SafariX Textbooks Online, the Web versions will allow students to print pages, search full texts, make bookmarks and write notes in the margins.

The service will begin operations this summer, offering as many as 150 textbooks.

AOL subscribers can check mail with third-party software

NEW YORK — America Online subscribers can now check their e-mail using most third-party software, yet another sign of holes opening up in the Internet dial-up leader's walled garden.

That means Internet users accustomed to Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora and other programs needn't use AOL's proprietary software or use Web-based interface to check their AOL electronic mail.

AOL quietly began supporting the open IMAP protocols on April 5 and formally launched it Wednesday.

"We've had members that have said, 'I'm used to using Outlook at work or Eudora at my old ISP (Internet service provider), so why can't I do the same things?' "said Roy Ben-Yoseph, AOL's director of e-mail products.

Before, only AOL's main software, its AOL Communicator and the AOL-owned Netscape browsers supported AOL e-mail. Instructions for using IMAP are at AOL keywords "open mail access."

Compiled from The Associated Press, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services and Bloomberg News

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company