Google Ads Trademark Complaint Template: File Your Complaint in 10 Minutes

When a competitor uses your brand name in their Google Ads copy, you have every right to report it. But Google's complaint process isn't exactly intuitive, and most people waste time figuring out what information they need before they even start.

This guide gives you a ready-to-use template and a step-by-step walkthrough so you can file a trademark complaint in about ten minutes — assuming you've gathered the evidence beforehand.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This is not legal advice. Consult a qualified solicitor for guidance specific to your situation.

When to file a trademark complaint (and when not to)

Before you start, you need to understand what Google will and won't act on.

You should file when: a competitor uses your registered trademark in their ad copy — that means in the headline, description lines, or display URL of their Google Ad. This is a clear violation of Google's trademark policy.

You should not file when: a competitor is simply bidding on your brand name as a keyword. Google explicitly permits keyword bidding on trademarked terms. If a competitor's ad appears when someone searches for your brand, but the ad copy itself makes no mention of your trademark, there's nothing to report. Frustrating, but that's the policy.

The distinction matters because filing complaints about keyword bidding will get rejected, and repeated invalid complaints may slow down your legitimate ones. For the full breakdown of what Google does and doesn't protect, see our Google Ads trademark policy guide.

What you need before filing

Gather all of this before you open the complaint form. Having everything ready is what makes this a ten-minute job rather than a half-hour one.

1. Your trademark registration details

The exact registered trademark (as it appears on the register)
Registration number
The country or region of registration
The registering office (e.g., UK Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, USPTO)

2. Evidence of the violation

Run a free audit to capture evidence of the violation before filing — it gives you timestamped screenshots and ad copy you can attach directly to your complaint.

The exact search query that triggered the ad
A screenshot of the ad showing your trademark in the copy
The date and time the ad was seen
The advertiser's display URL or business name
The destination URL the ad points to

3. Your contact information

Full name of the trademark owner (or authorised representative)
Email address
Company name
Your relationship to the trademark (owner, solicitor, authorised agent)

Step-by-step: Filing through Google's complaint form

Google's trademark complaint form is at ads.google.com/nav/trademark. Here's how to work through it:

Step 1: Select that you are the trademark owner or an authorised representative.

Step 2: Enter your contact details — name, email, company, and your role.

Step 3: Enter your trademark details. You'll need the exact trademark text, registration number, and the office where it's registered. If you have registrations in multiple jurisdictions, you can include all of them.

Step 4: Identify the specific advertisers and ads. Since Google's February 2025 policy change, you must report specific advertisers — blanket protections are no longer available. You'll need to provide:

The advertiser's name or website URL
The specific ad copy that contains your trademark
The search terms that triggered the ad

Step 5: Describe how the trademark is being used. This is where the template below comes in.

Step 6: Submit and note down your reference number.

The complaint template

Use this template for the description section of Google's complaint form. Replace the bracketed placeholders with your specific details.

Trademark Complaint — Unauthorised Use in Google Ads Copy

I am writing to report the unauthorised use of our registered trademark in Google Ads copy by a third-party advertiser.

Trademark Details:

Trademark: [YOUR TRADEMARK]

Registration Number: [REGISTRATION NUMBER]

Registering Office: [e.g., UK Intellectual Property Office / EUIPO / USPTO]

Registration Country/Region: [COUNTRY/REGION]

Infringing Advertiser:

Advertiser Name/Website: [COMPETITOR WEBSITE URL]

Advertiser Business Name (if known): [COMPETITOR BUSINESS NAME]

Infringing Ad Details:

Search query that triggered the ad: [SEARCH QUERY]

Date and time observed: [DATE AND TIME]

Ad headline containing trademark: [EXACT AD HEADLINE TEXT]

Ad description containing trademark: [EXACT AD DESCRIPTION TEXT]

Display URL: [DISPLAY URL SHOWN IN AD]

Destination URL: [LANDING PAGE URL]

Nature of Complaint: The advertiser identified above is using our registered trademark "[YOUR TRADEMARK]" in their Google Ads copy without our authorisation. This use is likely to cause confusion amongst consumers, who may believe the advertiser is affiliated with, endorsed by, or is our company.

We request that Google investigate this matter and take appropriate action to prevent the continued unauthorised use of our trademark in this advertiser's ad copy.

Authorisation: I confirm that I am [the owner of / an authorised representative for] the trademark identified above and that the information provided is accurate.

[YOUR FULL NAME] [YOUR TITLE/ROLE] [YOUR COMPANY] [DATE]

Adapting the template for multiple ads

If you've found the same competitor running several ads with your trademark, list each ad separately within a single complaint. Google prefers one complaint per advertiser with all violations included, rather than multiple complaints for the same advertiser.

If different competitors are using your trademark, file separate complaints for each advertiser.

What happens after you file

Once submitted, Google's review process typically follows this timeline:

Within 24-48 hours: You'll receive an automated confirmation email with a reference number. Keep this — you'll need it for any follow-up.

Within 2-4 weeks: Google reviews the complaint. They'll check that your trademark registration is valid and that the reported ad copy does indeed contain your trademark. They do not assess whether the use constitutes infringement in a legal sense — they simply check whether the trademarked text appears in the ad copy.

If upheld: Google will notify the advertiser and restrict them from using your trademark in their ad copy. The ads will be disapproved or the advertiser will be required to remove the trademarked terms. This restriction applies to the specific advertiser, not to all advertisers globally.

If rejected: Google will tell you why. Common reasons include the trademark not being registered in the relevant jurisdiction, the complaint targeting keyword bidding rather than ad copy usage, or the ad copy not actually containing the trademark.

Following up on slow or rejected complaints

If you haven't heard back within four weeks, you can follow up by replying to the confirmation email with your reference number. Be polite but persistent — the review queue can be long.

If a complaint is rejected and you believe it was valid, you can refile with additional evidence or clarification. Make sure your evidence clearly shows the trademark appearing in the ad copy itself, not just in the search results page generally. If the Google complaint route stalls, you may want to consider sending a cease and desist letter directly to the competitor.

Building an evidence file

The strength of your complaint depends entirely on the quality of your evidence. For each violation, you should capture:

A full screenshot of the search results page showing the ad
The exact date and time (including time zone)
The search query used
The geographic location of the search
The full ad copy text (headline, descriptions, display URL)
The landing page URL

This is where automated monitoring becomes essential. Manually searching for your brand and hoping to catch violations is unreliable — ads rotate, targeting changes, and competitors may only show ads during certain hours or in certain locations.

SerpAlert captures all of this evidence automatically. Every time a competitor's ad appears on your brand terms, the system records the full ad copy, destination URL, timestamp, and search location. When it's time to file a complaint, you already have everything you need in a format that's ready to submit.

Make it a process, not a one-off

Filing a single complaint is straightforward. The real challenge is making trademark enforcement an ongoing process. Competitors who get caught will often stop for a few weeks and then start again, or new competitors will begin using your trademark.

Set up a recurring review — monthly at minimum — to check whether previously reported advertisers have resumed violations and whether new ones have appeared. The complaint process is the same each time; the difference is whether you catch violations quickly or let them run for months before noticing.

Use our brand campaign calculator to see the numbers and quantify how much competitor trademark abuse may be costing you. The brands that protect their trademarks most effectively are the ones that treat monitoring as a continuous operation rather than a reaction to a specific incident.