Supreme Court Dismisses MakeMyTrip's Trademark Case Appeal Against Google

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from MakeMyTrip (MMT), an online travel agency, against Google for the alleged misuse of its trademarks as "keywords" within the tech giant's advertising programme.

In December 2023, the Delhi High Court had determined that the mere usage of trademarks on Google Ads did not constitute infringement under the Trade Marks Act of 1999.

MMT’s competitor Booking.com made the highest bid and purchased the “MakeMyTrip” keyword on the Google Ads Program, which means that anyone searching for the term would see its site on top of their search results.

The Court observed that using the keyword cannot be considered infringement or passing off because MMT and Booking.com are two completely different online platforms.

The bench said, “There’s no deception at all. Somebody who wants to go to MMT will not be confused at all and land at Booking.com. This isn’t a case where Booking.com is using MMT’s trademark to do its business.”