The Delhi High Court set aside on Thursday an order that restrained online travel firms from using the MakeMyTrip keyword when participating in the Google Ads programme.
The court clarified that in cases where a trademark, which is deceptively similar, is used in connection with similar goods and services, it is erroneous to suggest that an injunction must necessarily follow.
MakeMyTrip Pvt. had sought an injunction against Google to ensure that Booking Netherlands and Booking India do not promote their businesses by using MakeMyTrip's word trademarks as keywords in Google Ads.
The restriction applies to the use of the term 'MakeMyTrip' in various formats, including when it is used together or in conjunction with other elements, and regardless of whether spaces are inserted between the words.
What's The Case About?
When people search for things on Google, they see two types of results: organic and sponsored results. Sponsored results are shown because advertisers participate in the Google Ads programme.
In the sponsored results, advertisers bid for specific keywords. For example, if someone searches for 'travel', travel-related companies might bid for that keyword to display their ads. The bid is the amount of money an advertiser is willing to pay when a user clicks on their ad. Google uses a special system to select which sponsored results to display, and these results are labelled with the word 'Ad.'
MakeMyTrip is also part of Google Ads. They provide a list of keywords they want to use and bid on them to display their ads when people search.
However, Booking.com is bidding on and using MakeMyTrip's brand name as a keyword in their ads. This is a violation of its trademarks and it's causing a problem for them, according to MakeMyTrip.
Court Ruling
A single-judge bench had already restrained them, but Google contested these claims, asserting that the presumption of likelihood of confusion could be rebutted at an early stage based on the material available.
On Thursday, the high court cited the Supreme Court, highlighting that the rules of presumption are deduced from human knowledge and experience. It emphasised that it is open for the defendants to persuade the court, based on the material on record, that there is no likelihood of confusion.
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