Google Defends Trademark Ad Policy After Delhi HC Ruling on Hindware Keyword Use

Google defended its trademark advertising policies but did not say whether it would appeal the May 22 ruling by the Delhi High Court that permanently restrained the company from using "HINDWARE" as an advertising keyword, in its first public response since the order.

According to reports, a Google spokesperson said that the company respects and operates in accordance with local laws, and that it seeks to explain its position through legal processes when court orders are considered overbroad or inconsistent with its policies.

The company spokesperson said that Google’s advertising policy disallows competitors to use trademarked terms in the visible text of ads and that the policy is uniformly applied across markets under Indian trademark law.

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Court Challenges Google:

The court’s findings, however, concerned another part of Google’s advertising system, namely the use of trademarked terms as hidden backend keywords that result in ads in Google’s auction platform. Even where the trade mark did not appear in the visible advertisement, the court held that this use of keywords amounted to “use in advertising” within the meaning of section 29(6)(d) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

The ruling also undercut Google’s argument that it enforced its policy uniformly around the world. Google’s witness admitted in the proceedings that the company prohibited the use of trademarked keywords until 2009, when it changed its global policy to allow their use. The court pointed out that while Google was continuing to investigate trademark complaints in the European Union and the European Economic Area, it did not take the same approach in India.

In the Court's view, this distinction was a conscious departure and failure of due diligence. The court cited this as another reason to deny Google any shield under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

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Court Scrutiny Deepens:

The court also examined Google’s Keyword Planner tool, which it ruled suggested rival trademarked terms as keywords for advertisers. The court said that such recommendations are an active facilitation of trademark infringement, not a prevention of misleading trademark use.

In a statement, Google reiterated that the company operates through legal channels when court orders are incompatible with its policies. However, it did not say whether it would appeal against the ruling of the Delhi High Court.

The case is one of a growing number of legal battles over keyword advertising in India. Courts have taken different stances on the issue in recent years. In March 2024, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order allowing Google to use “MakeMyTrip” as a keyword in Google Ads, noting that there was no proven consumer confusion, a ruling that was in favour of the technology company.

The recent decision of the Hindware case is one of the latest examples of the ongoing judicial scrutiny on the keyword advertising practices and the legal obligations of the digital advertising platforms in a trademark dispute.