Dear Fellow Citizens and Entrepreneurs,

I write to you with deep concern about a recent ruling(shown below) by the apex court in case of MakeMyTrip Vs Google that will undoubtedly go down in history as a blow to thousands of Startups/MSMEs, which have already suffered immense losses and closures during and after the Covid pandemic. MSME is considered backbone for our country but our backbone has suffered huge setback and is in deep pain since Covid. 

Let’s understand the technicalities before we move ahead: 

1. Google profits from brand owners' intellectual property by selling brand keywords to competing brands, diverting organic customers and directing them to competitors for a fee.

2. To mitigate this infringement, brands are forced to advertise on their own intellectual property keywords, ensuring competitors don't dominate searches related to their brand. This results in brands paying Google for ads they don't necessarily need, despite their website already ranking organically at the top.

3. Consequently, brands find themselves in a predicament where they're compelled to spend on ads for their own intellectual property to prevent competitor encroachment. This expenditure doesn't yield any additional revenue for the brands, essentially amounting to extortion by Google, leveraging its monopolistic position.

Building a brand takes years of hard work and dedication. To safeguard their brands, entrepreneurs invest in trademarks and patents by paying fees to the government. We expect our government and legal system to protect us against unfair practices, but unfortunately, this ruling has dealt a severe blow to self-built brands and will demotivate overall startups in coming years. 

Every brand is recognized by its name. Imagine asking for a product like Nirma washing powder, only to be given a different brand by the shopkeeper, even after insisting otherwise. This scenario is akin to what is happening with search engines like Google and Bing. I will take my example here; When users search for a specific brand trademarked word like udChalo, these search engines prioritize links from companies paying higher commissions ignoring the trademarks, leaving loyal customers unable to find what they are looking for. eg In the image below, someone searching for "udChalo" hasn't found any mention of udChalo by the search engine. Would you be okay if this starts happening to you? Tomorrow, someone searches for the Supreme Court on Google, and I place a bid on "Supreme Court" to redirect to my website. Would this be acceptable to the Apex court?

 

 

 

 

It is alarming that a third party like Google profits from trademarks belonging to others, while the government fails to protect them. This issue mirrors the bans imposed on companies like Google in China to support local businesses. Additionally, recent google billing issues have further highlighted the damage caused by giants to MSME and startups. 

I urge all founders to unite and raise our voices against this ruling before it becomes a hindrance to our growth. We must demand expert advice for technical matters from the apex court and prompt action from the government. If our trademarks cannot be safeguarded, what is the purpose of collecting fees for their registration?

I call upon all founders, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs to unite and sign this petition to ensure our voices are heard. Otherwise, Google will continue to employ the most expensive legal counsel to defend its stance, regardless of its ethical implications. 

Together, let us strive for a fair and just environment for all businesses in India.

Sincerely, 

Ravi Kumar, CEO of a national startup award winning company

P.S: Case is MAKEMYTRIP (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED VERSUS GOOGLE LLC & ORS. Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) Nos.1575-1576/2024