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AP) -- American Airlines is suing Yahoo Inc. for trademark infringement, a case similar to one that the nation's largest airline settled this summer against Google Inc.
The airline complains that when computer users enter American's trademark terms such as AAdvantage, the name of its frequent-flier program, in a search they can be directed to competitors who pay Yahoo for the traffic.
American filed its lawsuit last week in U.S. District court in Fort Worth for unspecified damages, legal costs and money to run a "corrective" advertising campaign.
Kelley Benander of Yahoo said, "We have confidence in our trademark policies and are prepared to defend them in court."
AMR's American unit reached a confidential settlement of a similar lawsuit against Google this summer, also in federal court in Fort Worth.
Each side agreed to pay its own legal fees, and American got nothing from Google. But Google searches for "American Airlines" or "AAdvantage" no longer produce paid ads along the right side of the portal screen.
Google had prevailed in previous lawsuits filed by other companies over their paid search advertising practices using trademark terms.
Tim Smith, a spokesman for American, said Tuesday that the airline is suing Yahoo to protect its intellectual property and prevent confusion among consumers.
Smith said the dispute centers on Yahoo's practice of selling American's trademark terms to other companies for use in Internet searches. He said the airline saw value in Internet searches and hoped to continue a "professional and amicable relationship" with Yahoo.
©2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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