Trademark Policies

What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a word, phrase, logo, or symbol that identifies and distinguishes a product or service from others in the marketplace. Multiple trademark owners may claim the right to the same term, as long as each owner operates in a different industry. Trademark ownership is location-based, and therefore must be obtained on a country-by-country basis.

Google's Trademark Policy
With Google AdWords, advertisers may select trademarked terms as keywords or use them in the content of the ad. As a provider of space for advertisements, Google is not in a position to arbitrate trademark disputes between advertisers and trademark owners. As stated in our Terms and Conditions, advertisers are responsible for the keywords and ad text that they choose to use. Accordingly, Google encourages trademark owners to resolve their disputes directly with the advertiser, particularly because the advertiser may have similar ads on other sites. However, as a courtesy to trademark owners, Google is willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints.

Google's trademark policy does not apply to search results, only to sponsored links. For trademark concerns about websites that appear in Google search results, the trademark owner should contact the site owner directly.

Learn more about Google's trademark policy and copyright policy.

Google's Trademark Policy Across Different Regions
When Google receives a complaint from a trademark owner for a region listed here, Google only investigates the use of the trademark in ad text. Google will not disable keywords in response to a trademark complaint in these regions.

In all other regions Google is able to investigate the use of the trademark at issue in ad text and/or keywords. Please note that Google's investigation will only affect ads served on or by Google.

Google's trademark policy in the U.S. allows some ads to use trademarks in the ad text. Trademarked terms can be used in the ad text of ads that appear to be submitted by the following:

Resellers
Informational sites
Makers or resellers of components or parts for the goods and services related to the trademark term
Makers or resellers of compatible components or parts for the goods and services related to the trademark term
The product or services from resellers must be on the ad's landing page and must be clearly available for purchase from the ad's landing page.

The ads approved to run under the US policy which contain trademarks in the ad text, if not explicitly authorized by the trademark owner, will have limited serving, showing only in the US. The ads will not show on Google sites in other countries.