The practice has occasionally prompted a rival to file legal challenges alleging trademark infringement. Now a Wisconsin law firm is trying a new angle -- accusing its competitor of violating privacy laws.

Habush Habush & Rottier is one of Wisconsin's largest law firms, specializing in personal-injury cases. But search for iterations of "Habush" and "Rottier" and a sponsored link for Cannon & Dunphy attorneys often shows up, just above the link for the Habush site.

Habush alleges that Cannon paid for the keywords "Habush" and "Rottier," in effect hijacking the names and reputation of Habush attorneys.

Cannon acknowledged paying for the keywords but denied wrongdoing, saying it was following a clearly legal business strategy.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Milwaukee, where Habush is headquartered. Cannon is based in nearby Brookfield.

Habush based its lawsuit on a Wisconsin right-to-privacy statute that prohibits the use of any living person's name for advertising purposes without the person's consent.

"We believe this is deceptive, confusing and misleading," firm president Robert Habush said of Cannon's strategy. "If Bill Cannon thinks this is a correct way to do business he needs to have his moral compass taken to the repair shop."

William Cannon, the founding partner of Cannon & Dunphy, said every business uses the same tactic to remind consumers of their choices.

"This is equally available to Habush if he weren't so cheap to bid on his own name," Cannon said.

One legal expert said it wasn't clear how successful Habush's lawsuit would be.

Ryan Calo, a fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, said the statute seemingly was meant to protect people from having their names and images misused to suggest they endorse or represent something. That's not the case here, he said.

"Although (Cannon's) conduct may run afoul of the literal words of the statute, I don't think the conduct at issue goes to the core of this particular aspect of privacy," he said.

Similar lawsuits have been filed over the keyword issue, with some differences. An American Airlines lawsuit targeted not a rival but Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., and alleged not a privacy violation but that the search giants infringed on its trademarks.

American was upset that Web users who entered search terms such as AAdvantage, the trademarked name of its frequent-flier program, saw results that included links to American's Web site but also to its rivals under sponsored links. (continued...)

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