American Airlines has sued Yahoo for trademark infringement. The issue is paid adverts using American Airlines trademarks such as “American Airlines” and “AAdvantage”.
Apart from the still-open legal question as to whether selling trademarks as search terms is an infringement or whether aiding and abetting competitors to capitalize on trademarks is infringement, the case emphasizes the problem with distinctive names. AAdvantage is one thing, but American, AIrline or American Airlines are kind of generic and descriptive.
