Google Wins UK Court Case Filed By Streetmap -- Update

By Natalia Drozdiak 

BRUSSELS-- Alphabet Inc.'s Google has won a U.K. court case filed by online mapping company Streetmap. EU Ltd, who alleged the U.S. technology company was skewing search results in favor of its own mapping product, the companies said Friday.

The U.K. High Court ruled against Streetmap, saying Google didn't abuse its dominant position and that its mapping product doesn't harm competition.

The mapping company had filed the lawsuit against Google in 2013, alleging that the U.S. technology firm ensured that its general search engine displayed results that discriminated in favor of its own mapping product and against other mapping firms.

"The court made clear that we're focused on improving the quality of our search results," a Google spokesman said.

The decision comes as the European Commission, the bloc's antitrust regulator, is investigating the way Google displays search results in areas where it offers services including mapping, travel and local guides.

A spokesman for the commission said the U.K. judgment doesn't affect the EU's ongoing investigations.

Lawyers representing Streetmap said they would appeal the U.K. court decision, claiming that the judge used the wrong measurements for assessing whether Google's conduct in search had had any impact in the relevant markets.

The Streetmap lawyers said Google admitted in the trial that it hadn't complied with legal obligations to test its products in the U.K. market when it first introduced Google maps in 2007 and had only considered its effects on the U.S. market. Google used evidence from last year rather than when it entered the mapping market, they added.

"This decision says that companies do not need to have evidence of compliance at the time, so long as they can find something later that may work as a defense," said Tim Cowen, partner at Preiskel & Co LLP, the law firm representing Streetmap.

"StreetMap has been frozen in time because of what Google did," said Kate Sutton, a director at Streetmap, adding that the firm hasn't been able to properly invest in the website since 2007.

British comparison-shopping site Foundem, which was the first company to file a complaint with the EU over Google's conduct, also has a separate civil court case against Google in the U.K.

Write to Natalia Drozdiak at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2016 10:47 ET (15:47 GMT)

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