Google Wins Lawsuit Over Unhappy Google Search Appliance Installation–Market America v. Google

April 25, 2011 · by · in Licensing/Contracts, Marketing

By Eric Goldman

Market America, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2011 WL 1485616 (D. Del. April 19, 2011)

I blogged about this case last year. Market America retained Google and its system integrator LTech to install a Google Search Appliance to support Market America’s network. This installation did not go as planned, and eventually it led to this lawsuit. In the prior ruling from August, Google and LTech knocked out a big chunk of the case.

This ruling addresses some remaining consumer protection law claims. It turns out that the claims aren’t tenable under the contract’s governing law of Delaware, while Market America believed the claims were extra-contractual and should be governed by North Carolina law (Market America’s home state). The court concludes that the contract’s governing law clause applies to these additional claims, so it grants Google and LTech judgment on the pleadings.

Google’s success in this lawsuit is a good outcome legally, but its failure to achieve a successful install for Market America is a less happy result.