Google has appealed the Delhi High Court’s May 26 ruling that held the company liable for trademark infringement for allowing advertisers to bid on Hindware’s trademarked keywords through Google Ads. The company said the judgment departs from established legal precedents in India and will present its arguments before the court.
Google has challenged a Delhi High Court ruling that found its keyword advertising system violated Hindware’s trademark rights, taking the long-running legal dispute into its next phase.
According to the Delhi High Court’s cause list, the appeal will be heard on July 10 by a division bench comprising Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.
Confirming the appeal, a Google spokesperson said, “We are appealing the Delhi High Court’s order, which diverges from established legal precedents in India. Our ads policies reflect standard practices that enable competition and give consumers more choices. We look forward to presenting our position to the court.”
The case centres on Google’s advertising platform, where businesses can bid on keywords to display sponsored ads in search results. In its May 26 order, Justice Mini Pushkarna ruled that allowing competing companies to bid on the trademarked “Hindware” keyword amounted to trademark infringement under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
The court also directed Google LLC and Google India not to use Hindware’s registered trademarks as advertising keywords. It observed that Google earned revenue by auctioning trademarked keywords to competing brands, effectively using Hindware’s “commercial pulling power” without authorisation.
Hindware argued that when users searched for terms such as “Hindware” and “Hindware Sanitary” on Google, advertisements and websites of rival companies appeared in the search results. According to the company, this created unfair competition and diluted the value of its trademark.
The dispute dates back to 2013, when Hindware filed separate cases against competitors Cera and Grohe, along with Google. It alleged that the rival companies had purchased its trademarked brand name as a keyword through Google AdWords. While Hindware later settled its disputes with Cera and Grohe, the case against Google India and Google LLC continued.
Google said the ruling could have wider implications for India’s digital advertising industry. In its appeal, the company argued that the judgment could reduce competition, limit consumer choice, and change how online advertising works in the country. It also maintained that advertising keywords serve only as internal triggers to display ads and do not amount to trademark use.
If the ruling is upheld, it could encourage more companies to take legal action against Google and competing advertisers over the use of trademarked keywords.
Read Article: AustralianSuper Invests Additional A$500 Million in NIIF During Modi’s Australia Visit
