Google saw two legal victories this week in copyright and trademark issues.

In the first case, a German artist uploaded large images of her paintings to her website. When Google Image Search displayed thumbnails of those images, she sued for copyright infringement. The German Supreme Court ruled against the artist. As Google says in their European Public Policy blog:

Today´s ruling makes it clear not just for Google, its users in Germany and all owners of websites containing images, but also for all providers of image search services operating in the country: showing thumbnail images within search results is legitimate and millions of users in Germany benefit from being able to discover visual information at the click of a mouse.

The full reasoning behind the decision is yet to come.

The second IP victory for Google came from the US. Rosetta Stone, language learning software company, sued Google for allowing competitors to bid on their trademarked name. Google was granted their motion for summary judgment, according to Business Week.

The ruling means that the case will not be heard by a jury. Instead, a judge will decide the case. The final verdict is still pending, but things may look good for Google there, too. Summary judgment is only granted when, according to Wikipedia:

1. there are no issues of “material” fact requiring a trial for their resolution, and
2. in applying the law to the undisputed facts, one party is clearly entitled to judgment.

Again, the final verdict is still pending.

What do you think? Will the second case go in Google’s favor, too?

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