An income tax tribunal held that the amount received by Google Ireland from Google India towards marketing and distribution rights of the AdWords programme is not royalty, and hence, cannot be taxed at the hands of the assessee (Google Ireland). The ruling by the Bengaluru-based Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) may have repercussions on similar transactions by multinationals, feel experts. Explaining the case, Amit Maheshwari, tax expert at AKM Global, said Google Ireland had received Rs 8,662.93 crore under the Google Reseller Agreements.
Last week, the Delhi high court ruled that the mere use of trademarks on Google Ads, an online advertising platform, did not amount to infringement under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. This was after online travel agency MakeMyTrip (MMT) claimed that its trademarks, "Makemytrip" and "MMT", were being used as keywords in Google Ads to display ads and links of its rival Booking.com. The order has opened up a new debate on trademark infringement in the digital realm, revolving around whether it can create confusion among users.
In yet another bid to manage the raging crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, oil major BP said on Wednesday that it had bought the "oil spill" search string in Google.com. So, the next time when an internet user types "oil spill" in Google.com, the first response in the search results will be a link directing to BP's micro website that is dedicated to disseminating information on how it has handling the crisis on the ground.
Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech unicorn upGrad, has filed a suit for trademark infringement against another EdTech company called Scaler. The suit has been filed in the Delhi high court for violation of intellectual property relating to upGrad's trademark. It has also sought damages of more than Rs 3 crore. upGrad accused Scaler of using its brand name 'upGrad' through Google Ads to appear on top of search results on Google Search Engine and in turn gaining illicit benefit.
In 5 years, prices for keywords on Google's AdWords platform have gone up three to five times. Alnoor Peermohamed reports.
This is the third such matter relating to Google's AdWords to come under the lens of CCI in the recent past.
Let's take a look at some of the best products it has launched.
The demand for full-stack developers in India have seen a 20% increase in the last one year.
A top European court has ruled that Google has not infringed rights of entities, including French luxury brand Louis Vuitton, by allowing online advertisers to buy keywords similar to their competitors' trademarks.
A technology company founded by an Indian-American at the age of 19 has emerged as the largest online seller of silicon wrist band in the US.
Seamlessly integrating multiple devices is becoming the single most important strategy for retailers, says Ritwik Sharma.
An interview with Sridhar Ramaswamy,Senior vice-president, ads and commerce, Google.
Chanda Kochhar is among the three Indians in Time's Most Influential list.
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