Intellectual property policies

As an advertiser, you are responsible for ensuring that your keywords and ad content, including trademarks and logos, do not infringe or violate the intellectual property rights of others. We take allegations of trademark infringement seriously. Review our intellectual property policies below for details about trademarks, copyright, counterfeit goods and how to submit a complaint.

If a trademark owner is concerned that their trademark is being used improperly in ad text, the owner should first contact the advertiser directly to address the issue. If dissatisfied with the outcome, the owner may also wish to contact Microsoft by completing the Intellectual Property Concern Form for that market and select the option “Trademark Misuse in Ad Copy.” See “Trademark infringement investigations” below for more details.

Please note that Microsoft is not a mediator. As such, Microsoft encourages trademark owners to engage directly with advertisers who they believe are misusing their trademarks.

Microsoft will investigate a complaint about trademark infringement in the text of a search ad and will take appropriate action after it receives all required information. The investigation is designed to ensure the quality and accuracy of our ad results and to help our users avoid confusion.

Microsoft allows the fair use of trademarks in ad text, such as:

• Use of a trademark by a reseller of authentic goods or services.
• Informational websites about goods or services represented by the trademark, such as product reviews.
• Ordinary dictionary uses of a term.
• Comparative advertising (with restrictions).

Microsoft prohibits the advertising of counterfeit goods on our advertising network. A counterfeit good is one that copies without permission the trademark and/or distinctive features of a product in order to either pass itself off as the genuine product or promote a nearly identical replica or imitation of the original product. Trademark or designer product brand names cannot be modified with “counterfeit,” “fake,” "replica," "copy of," "inspired by," “bootleg” or any synonym thereof.

Upon receiving a sufficiently detailed complaint containing all required information, Microsoft will investigate and, if appropriate, remove from our network an ad that violates this policy. If you are a trademark owner and want to submit an allegation regarding the advertising of counterfeit goods, please complete the Intellectual Property Concern Form.

Counterfeit policy vs. trademark policy: Our counterfeit policy concerns the actual goods promoted on a site, whereas our trademark policy concerns use of the trademark in the ad text itself.

Counterfeit vs. copyright/pirated goods: A counterfeit good mimics trademark brand features rather than copying a product itself (such as music, movies, and software).

If you feel that an ad violates this policy, please complete the appropriate Intellectual Property Concern Form.

• Ads may not infringe upon Intellectual Property (IP) rights of others. The use of logos, registered marks, copyrighted material etc.
• Advertisers represent and warrant that they possess all the necessary rights and authorizations in order to promote movies, songs, media or any other content which may be subject to proprietary rights of others. Microsoft is not required to pre-validate or vet advertisements at any time, or to resolve disputes on behalf of its customers. At times however, Microsoft may ask you for additional information related to your advertisements.
• Advertisers are encouraged to maintain a DMCA compliant process, or local equivalent.