Delhi high court fines Google ₹30 lakh over trademark use as ad keyword

The Delhi high court has found Google guilty of infringing the trademark rights of a bathroom fittings maker by allowing rivals to use its name as an advertising keyword, and imposed a ₹30 lakh fine on the tech giant, in an order that could have far-reaching effects on the online advertisement market.

Google was found to have allowed rival companies of India’s Hindware to use the term “Hindware” as a keyword to target their own advertising, without the company’s consent, which the court said amounted to “free-riding” on Hindware’s reputation.