Trademark keywords in Google Ads: legal exposure, smart governance, and preventive playbooks

Where performance marketing meets unfair competition

Buying a competitor’s trademark as a keyword may look like a shortcut to visibility. In Brazil, it increasingly looks like legal risk. Under the Industrial Property Law and recent court trends, using someone else’s mark to trigger your sponsored ad can be treated as unfair competition and trademark misuse, especially when it confuses users and diverts clientele.

Legal framework: exclusive rights, unfair competition, and accountability across the stack

Brazilian law grants exclusive brand rights within the relevant class of goods or services. In paid search, bidding on a third-party mark to display your own ad may amount to unfair competition and, in certain scenarios, trademark infringement. Courts examine the concrete setup: ad copy, displayed URL, negative keywords, and evidence that the ad was actually triggered by the competitor’s mark. Platforms may also face scrutiny when their role goes beyond neutral hosting within a monetized advertising marketplace. Ultimately, outcomes are fact-driven.

Practical implications: risks, evidence, and performance impact

Advertisers face cease-and-desist orders, damages, and litigation costs. Even without exact proof of lost sales, potential consumer confusion is often enough to establish liability. Commercially, the tactic can erode trust, inflate long-term CAC, and drain marketing budgets into disputes.

For brand owners, results depend on evidence quality: updated INPI registrations, screenshots of sponsored results, audit reports, campaign logs, and documentation showing the ad was triggered by the protected mark. These materials support takedown notices, platform requests, and, when needed, court measures for injunctive relief and damages.

Compliance and responsible marketing

Adopt clear internal rules that prohibit bidding on third-party trademarks and configure negative keywords to avoid accidental matches. Train in-house teams and agencies on IP and unfair-competition basics. Keep ready-to-send notices attaching proof of registration and occurrences found. Strong brand governance adds continuous monitoring, brand-protection tooling, and periodic campaign audits. In high-confusion markets, legal pre-clearance of sensitive campaigns reduces risk without sacrificing growth.

Prevention as a growth enabler

Blending legal foresight with marketing speed creates durable advantage. Align legal and performance teams early, actively protect trademarks and domains, and implement clear response protocols. When campaigns touch competitors’ names or regulated niches, seek specialized legal guidance. This doesn’t guarantee outcomes; it builds a compliant, efficient, and scalable growth path.