A recent Delhi High Court decision in a prolonged trademark case filed by Hindware Limited may influence Google’s approach to keyword advertising, particularly when trademarks appear in sponsored search results.
In a 163-page ruling issued on May 22, Justice Mini Pushkarna considered whether one firm can buy another’s registered trademark as a keyword via Google Ads to place its ads at the top of search results.
The dispute began in early 2013 when Hindware, a sanitaryware maker, found that competitors Grohe India and Cera Sanitaryware had bought the term ‘Hindware’ as a keyword through Google’s AdWords service. Searches for ‘Hindware’ or related phrases then showed the rivals’ sites first.
Hindware claimed Google used its registered trademark for ads without consent, violating Section 29(6) of the Trade Marks Act. After the competitors settled, the case continued against Google India and Google LLC.
Google AdWords lets advertisers bid on keywords that trigger sponsored ads next to search results. Google argued that keywords function only as backend triggers invisible to users and thus do not constitute trademark ‘use.’ It also noted that ads are labeled to avoid confusion.
The court sided with Hindware and barred Google from using the term in keyword auctions. It described Google’s actions as free-riding on the trademark owner’s goodwill to boost AdWords revenue. The decision highlights tensions between trademark law and search advertising models.
