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"There is really no deception at all, someone who wants to go to Make My Trip's website will not open Booking.com at all..", the court opined today
The Supreme Court of India today dismissed a trademark infringement case by Make My Trip(MMT) filed against Booking.com and Google.
"This is not a case of use of trademark at all.. suppose you want to book a ticket on make my trip, you will not open Booking.com at all..", CJI DY Chandrachud opined.
Court was told that under Google Ads, when MMT was being searched as a keyword, the search results showed the result of Booking.com.
"How can you trade under MMT's name and use it as a keyword..", Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued.
Refusing to accept said submission the bench noted there was no deception at all.
While dealing with this issue, the Delhi High Court had a few months back clarified that the mere use of trademarks in the Google Ads program did not constitute infringement or passing off under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
Today the Supreme Court observed that the High Court had correctly cited their previous ruling in Google LLC v. DRS Logistics (P) Ltd & Ors, emphasizing that the utilization of trademarks as keywords by competitors, without causing confusion or deceit, does not inherently amount to infringing use.
Before the High Court's division bench, the case had arisen from appeals filed by Google against a single-judge interim order that restrained Booking.com from bidding on MakeMyTrip’s trademark through Google AdWords.
The division bench had set aside the earlier order, determining that Booking.com using MakeMyTrip’s trademarks as keywords does not confer an unfair advantage.
Highlighting Booking.com's status as a well-known platform offering travel services, the court rejected the notion that an internet user might be misled into thinking that the services offered by Booking.com are affiliated with MakeMyTrip.
Case Title: Make My Trip vs. Google LLC
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