kneukm03 - 6:36 pm on Dec 28, 2008 (gmt 0)

"Interesting, now this may be off topic... but, I have to wonder what the ramifications would be if a Website were to rank highly in SERPS for a term such as "Verizon" purely as a consequence of inbound links only, where the offending term was not used on the page or in the domain."

If you were directing the inbound links somehow (i.e., convincing people to link to your site using a trademarked term), you could probably be successfully sued. The general test in the U.S. is whether there is a likelihood of confusion - i.e., could consumers think that the person using the trademark is actually the trademark owner. If you have on-page stuff, you're probably fine - i.e. your "Verizon Cell Phone Service Review Page" isn't going to be mistaken by anyone for something by Verizon.

If you're convincing someone to link to your site using "Verizon," though, they have a decent argument: the person on the linking page only sees the word "Verizon." They can't see your page until they get to it, so they don't know it's not the actual Verizon page until they arrive there. I personally never use trademarks in any of the links I'm asking people to get, just because the risk is too high.