1-800 Contacts Sues Warby Parker In Keyword Search Suit

In a new suit in NY, 1-800 Contacts is accusing eyewear upstart Warby Parker of infringing trademarks by buying search engine keywords like “1-800 Contacts.”

According to the complaint that it filed in a New York federal court on Wednesday, August 18, 1-800 Contacts asserts that Warby Parker is engaging in “continuing trademark infringement, unfair competition, and deceptive advertising practices” in an effort to attract consumers given its status as a “new entrant in the online contact lens marketplace.” 

In the newly-filed complaint, 1-800 Contacts alleges that in light of its “relatively low consumer recognition for contacts,” and “instead of independently developing its own brand awareness related to the online sales of contacts,” direct-to-consumer pioneer Warby Parker “has devised a plan to confuse and mislead consumers who seek to go to 1-800 Contacts’ online store.” Primarily a retailer of eyeglasses, Warby Parker is “trad[ing] off 1-800 Contacts’ brand name and reputation through unauthorized bidding on 1-800 Contacts’ trademarks as search engine keywords that generate Warby Parker advertisements,” 1-800 Contacts claims. 

1-800 Contacts alleges that Warby Parker “bids on 1-800 Contacts’ distinctive trademarks to make search engine keyword purchases with Google and other search engines, [and] by doing so, arranges to place its own ads at or near the top of the Google search results page that appears after a consumer searches for 1-800 Contacts or one of its trademarks.” 

The real kicker for 1-800 Contacts, however, is what comes next: Once consumers are presented with Warby Parker ads that “appear to be from 1-800 Contacts or an approved affiliate, licensee, or associate of 1-800 Contacts,” Warby Parker links those ads to “a Warby Parker landing webpage that deceptively and intentionally mimics the look and feel of 1-800 Contacts’ website, including through use of a confusingly similar color scheme, layout, and discount offering, along with imagery evoking the 1800contacts.com website.”

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