Trade marks and Google "AdWords" have been a hot topic in Germany for years, with some higher regional courts treating metags and "AdWords" in an identical manner assuming trade mark infringement and other courts, like the OLG Frankfurt, ruling that using a competitor's trade mark as a keyword in an internet search engine would not amount to trade mark infringement if the search result was recognizable as an advertisement. After several years of uncertainty, the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) is now hearing three "AdWord" cases, German newssite Handelsblatt reports. In one of the cases an erotic business used the trade mark "bananabay" as an "AdWord" - allegedly to divert business to its erotic website. It is not yet clear when we can expect a decision and the Bundesgerichtshof has already hinted it might refer the question to the ECJ.