Marks & Spencer has won the latest skirmish in its six-year legal battle with Interflora over online marketing using Google Adwords.

The dispute started at the end of 2008 when Interflora instigated proceedings to stop the retailer from bidding on the Interflora trademark in the Google advertising programme.

M&S paid Google to configure its AdWords programme so advertisements for its flower services would be triggered and displayed to users when they searched on Google for words such as “Interflora” and “Interflora flowers.”

The case was referred to the European Court of Justice in 2009 to determine the test to be applied by the High Court when deciding whether M&S’s actions amounted to trademark infringement. The trial judge found in favour of Interflora in May 2013.

M&S appealed against the decision to the Court of Appeal, which this week referred the case back to the High Court for a retrial.

“We have always maintained the High Court’s judgement was wrong and that our use of the Interflora trademark as a Google Adword was fair competition,” said an M&S spokesman.

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