The High Court of Australia has granted leave to Google to appeal the decision that found its AdWords sponsored links misled consumers.

The Full Court of the Federal Court previously held that a sponsored link generated by the use of a keyword that is the trademark of another business constitutes a misleading representation by Google that there is a connection between the trademark owner and the advertiser.  It also held that “publisher’s defence” to misleading conduct did not apply, because it could not be said that Google did not know, and had no reason to believe, that the sponsored link was misleading.

These findings will be reconsidered by the High Court on appeal.