The Delhi High Court has restrained Google from permitting the use of the trademark “HINDWARE” as an advertising keyword, in a significant ruling around trademark protection in digital advertising and search-based marketing.
The dispute stemmed from allegations that sanitaryware rivals Grohe and Cera had purchased “HINDWARE” as a keyword through Google’s AdWords programme, causing their sponsored advertisements to appear when users searched for the Hindware brand online. Hindware argued that the unauthorised use of its registered trademark by competitors amounted to infringement and unfairly diverted consumer traffic.
In its ruling, the court restrained Google from “using/permitting use of the word ‘HINDWARE’” as an adword or keyword for internet advertising related to competing sanitaryware products. The injunctions, first granted in interim orders in 2013 and 2014, were later made absolute until the final disposal of the suits.
The court also imposed nominal damages of ₹30 lakh on Google, awarding ₹15 lakh in each of the two connected suits in favour of Hindware. The amount is to be paid jointly and severally by Google LLC and Google India within eight weeks.
The case examined the functioning of Google’s advertising ecosystem, where advertisers bid on keywords to display sponsored search results. Hindware contended that Google facilitated and monetised the use of its trademark by competitors, while Google argued that keywords function only as backend triggers and do not amount to visible trademark use.
