In a significant ruling on online advertising and trademark protection, the Delhi High Court has held that Google’s practice of allowing the registered trademark “HINDWARE” to be used as a keyword under its advertising programme amounted to trademark infringement. The Court granted a permanent injunction in favour of Hindware Limited and directed Google entities to pay ₹30 lakh as nominal damages along with litigation costs.
Background of the Case
The dispute arose from two commercial suits filed by Hindware Limited, a leading sanitaryware manufacturer and owner of the registered trademark “HINDWARE.” The company alleged that competitors had purchased its trademark as a keyword through Google’s AdWords programme, causing their advertisements to appear when users searched for Hindware products online.
According to Hindware, consumers searching specifically for its products were being redirected to advertisements and websites of rival sanitaryware companies. The company argued that such use of its trademark diluted its goodwill and amounted to infringement.
During the course of the litigation, Hindware settled its disputes with other defendants, including Grohe, Cera and Omkara Infoweb. The contest eventually remained only against Google India and Google LLC.
Justice Mini Pushkarna examined Google’s AdWords system, keyword suggestion tools and auction-based advertising model in detail.
The Court found that Google was not merely providing a passive platform. It observed that Google actively suggested keywords, allowed bidding on trademarks and earned revenue whenever users clicked on sponsored advertisements.
The judgment noted that “HINDWARE” is a coined and well-known trademark that has acquired goodwill through the efforts and investments of its proprietor. The Court held that permitting competitors to bid on such a mark enabled them to benefit from Hindware’s reputation without authorization.
The bench observed that Google’s conduct amounted to commercial use of the trademark and could not be treated as merely an internal or invisible backend process. It rejected Google’s argument that keyword use was solely attributable to advertisers.
“The active offering and selling of trademark terms to advertisers is not mere internal use of the trademark term, and is clearly a commercial use,” the Court observed while discussing Google’s role in the keyword advertising system.
Allowing the suits, the Delhi High Court passed a decree in favour of Hindware Limited and against Google LLC and Google India. The Court permanently restrained the companies from using “HINDWARE,” “HINDWARE SANITARYWARE,” “HINDWARE SANITARY,” “HINDWARE SANITARYWARE INDIA,” or any combination of those expressions as advertising keywords, AdWords, or in any manner amounting to infringement.
The Court also awarded nominal damages of ₹30 lakh, payable jointly and severally by Google LLC and Google India, along with actual litigation costs. The suit against Omkara Infoweb was decreed in terms of the settlement agreement already entered into between the parties.
