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Dr Martens, the British footwear brand, has filed a lawsuit against online retailer Temu last week, over a trademark infringement, according to the Times.
Dr Martens has alleged that Temu has advertised with Google, using keywords like “Dr Martens” and “Airwair”, to promote its boots sales.
As a result, Temu’s products have gained search result visibility over Dr Martens’ authentic ones.
According to Google’s advertising policies, it prohibits trademark infringement but allows the use of trademarks as keywords.
The Times stated that while the lawsuit against Temu was filed in the High Court, it is unclear what the retailer is seeking.
In March, Temu owner PDD Holdings reported total revenues at the discount e-retail group hit ¥247bn (£27bn) in the full year to 31 December 2023, nearly doubling from ¥130bn (£14.2bn) in 2022.
The group attributed its financial performance to its marketing efforts, which led to more transactions.
