The Delhi High Court has ruled that Google infringed the trademark rights of bathroom fittings maker Hindware. The allegation was that Google allows rival companies to use competitor names as an advertising keyword.
The court said “the manner in which Google operates its AdWords Policy makes it clear that Google sells or auctions the use of the trademark … without any authorisation from the proprietor of the trademark.”
The High Court has ordered Google to pay Hindware ₹30 lakh, roughly $31,600, in damages. It also permanently restrained Google LLC and Google India from offering “Hindware” and related variations as advertising keywords on Google Ads.
The case goes back to 2013-14, when the Indian company Hindware claimed that its competitors, like Cera and Grohe, had bought the keyword “HINDWARE” on Google’s AdWords platform. This meant that whenever people searched for Hindware on Google, they were met with sponsored ads from rival brands right at the top of the search results. Hindware contended that this was a case of trademark infringement, as these competitors were using its registered trademark to lure in customers who were specifically searching for Hindware.
Google argued that keywords are invisible backend triggers users never see. On that basis, it claimed they should not count as trademark use. The court disagreed firmly. Justice Pushkarna found that Google actively suggests trademarked terms through its Keyword Planner tool, runs the auctions that price them, and earns revenue each time a user clicks a triggered sponsored link.
The judge ruled that using a mark as a keyword amounts to using it in advertising, even when the word never appears in the ad text. The court compared keyword advertising to hidden meta-tags that redirect internet traffic. It held that Google was not a passive technological tool but an active participant monetising third-party trademarks.
For Pakistan, where Google dominates the digital ad market, the ruling sets a regional precedent worth watching. Pakistani brands have long faced the same problem of competitors bidding on their names. A similar legal challenge could eventually test whether local trademark law offers the same protection Indian businesses just won.
In a response, Google has said that its Ads policy does not allow competitors to use trademarked terms in ad text, and that it applies this policy globally.
