GoTo.Com, Inc. v. Walt Disney Co.

We must decide whether two remarkably similar logos used commercially on the World Wide Web are likely to confuse consumers under federal trademark law.

I

The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) appeals the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction against it that was sought by GoTo .com (“GoTo”). The injunction prohibits Disney from using a logo confusingly similarly to GoTo’s mark. GoTo operates a web site that contains a pay-for-placement search engine, which allows consumers to locate items on the Web 1 using a search algorithm weighted in favor of those advertisers who have paid to have their products given a priority by the engine. In December 1997, GoTo began using on its web site one of the two logos at issue in this appeal. The GoTo logo consists of the words “GO” and “TO” in a white font stacked vertically within a green circle. Although this green circle has been displayed against backgrounds of various colors, it is very often rendered against a square yellow background. To the right of the word “TO” are the characters “.com” in black, spilling out of the green circle onto the background color.

In preparing to launch a web site of its own, Disney commissioned a…