Google moves Delhi High Court against ₹30 lakh fine for use of Hindware trademark as keyword in Google Ads

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice in Google's appeal against a judgment finding the search engine liable for trademark infringement in over the use of the mark 'HINDWARE' as a keyword in Google’s AdWords advertising programme.

The judgment of May 22 being challenged by Google was passed in two commercial suits filed by sanitaryware company Hindware against rivals Grohe India, Cera Sanitaryware and Omkara Infoweb, along with Google, over keyword advertising.

Hindware's grievance was that on searching 'HINDWARE' on Google, it showed the rival brands as well.

On May 22, a single judgle judge Bench of the Court held Google liable for trademark infringement and imposed a ₹30 lakh fine on it.

Google has now challenged this ruling before a Division Bench of the High Court.

The Bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora today issued notice in the appeal and sought the response of Hindware and other sanitryware companies that were party to the matter.

The Court also refused to pass an interim injunction today, adding that it would hear final arguments in the matter on July 24.

In the commercial suits on which the May 22 ruling was passed, Hindware had alleged that its competitors Grohe and Cera, assisted by Omkara Infoweb, had purchased HINDWARE and combinations such as HINDWARE SANITARY as keywords on Google’s AdWords platform.

As a result, sponsored links to the websites of Hindware's rivals appeared as the first result when users searched for the Hindware mark. 

Single judge Justice Mini Pushkarna rejected Google’s defence that it is only an intermediary and hence entitled to safe‑harbour protection.

The single judge proceeded to restrain Google from using the marks/names ‘HINDWARE’ or ‘HINDWARE SANITARYWARE’, ‘HINDWARE SANITARY’ or ‘HINDWARE SANITARYWARE INDIA’ or any combination of those marks in its AdWords programme.

Further, the single judge also ordered Google to pay ₹30 lakhs to Hindware for misusing its mark within eight weeks. This ruling has been challenged now before the High Court's Division Bench.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for Google in the matter today.

"The biggest revolution in Indian knowledge search has been the idea of a search engine. There is no free meal for search engines; they need advertisements," he said.

Singhvi submitted that the issue "cries out" for the Court's attention due to the element of public interest involved.

"The established paradigm of the industry will not be disrupted; it would be stopped. We are a search engine. The larger public interest is to facilitate search ... It [the May 22 judgment] will have a cascading effect on the global search. When I search for Hindware, it is in the interest of the whole public to get whole competition and a choice. The choice is in public interest," he stated.

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