On April 15, 1999, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. alleged in its federal lawsuit that Netscape and Excite are infringing and diluting its trademarks (1) by marketing and selling the group of over 450 words, including "playboy" and "playmate," to advertisers, (2) by programming the banner ads to run in response to the search terms "playboy" and "playmate" (i.e., "keying"), and (3) by actually displaying the banner ad on the search results page. As a result, plaintiff contends, Internet users are diverted from plaintiff’s official web site and web sites sponsored or approved by plaintiff, which generally will be listed as search results, to other adult entertainment web sites.

On September 12, 2000, Hon. Alicemarie Stotler in the United States District Court for the Central District of California found no evidence that Netscape and Excite make actionable use of plaintiff's trademarks.  For more information, click on the civil minutes below.

More Information

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Netscape and Excite Civil Minutes

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Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Netscape and Excite Order