Bulletin 21 | Jan 2025
Snapshots
MADRAS HIGH COURT
LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. V. RPD WORKSTATIONS PRIVATE LIMITED.
While upholding Lenovo’s appeal under Section 57 of the Trademarks Act, 1999, the Madras High Court ordered the removal of RPD Workstation’s trademark “THINBOOK” in Class 9, from the Register of Trademarks. The Court recognized Lenovo as the exclusive proprietor of the globally registered THINK Family of Marks, which have acquired distinctiveness through long-standing use. It found “THINBOOK” deceptively and phonetically similar, likely to mislead the public. The Trademark Registry was directed to cancel the impugned mark within four weeks.
DELHI HIGH COURT
PLAY GAMES24X7 PRIVATE LIMITED V. HTTPS RUMMYTU IN & ORS.
In a suit for infringement of copyright and trademark, passing off and unfair competition, the Court granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction against rogue websites operating under the guise of the plaintiff’s well-known trademark ‘RUMMYCIRCLE’. It was contended that the Defendants were engaging in illegal gambling activities, deliberately misleading / redirecting users to illegal gambling websites by deploying the “Bait & Switch” method, replicating website designs of the Plaintiff’s in order to create unlawful association with the Plaintiff. Consequently, the Court restrained the defendants from using the RUMMYCIRCLE trademark and directed domain registrars to lock and suspend the infringing
websites.
DELHI HIGH COURT
PFIZER INC. AND ORS V. EVEREST PHARMACEUTICALS LTD AND ORS LTD.
The Hon’ble Court passed a decree under Order VIII Rule 10 of the CPC in a patent infringement suit. The Defendants were found to be manufacturing and distributing a generic version of Pfizer’s patented product, the claims of which cover Tofacitinib compound. They neither appeared nor filed a written statement and were proceeded against ex parte. The Court noted that the Defendants’ business practices demonstrated a deliberate attempt to evade regulatory oversight, and their actions posed a substantial threat to public health. Given the Defendant’s pattern of repeated and brazen infringement of Pfizer’s rights despite being injuncted in prior cases, the Court observed that the present case merited a decree without trial.
BOMBAY HIGH COURT
HDFC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. v. META PLATFORMS INC. & ORS.
HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd., filed a suit for data breach and extortion against a John Doe defendant who threatened the Plaintiff (through emails, Telegram and Whatsapp accounts) to leak sensitive customer information unless a ransom of 1,800 Ethereum (approx. ₹54.50 crore) was paid. The Court, holding that a strong prima facie case has been made out, restrained the unknown Defendants from using, copying, publishing, distributing, or transmitting sensitive and confidential customer data obtained through an alleged ransomware attack, and further directed Telegram and Meta Platforms, to remove and disable accounts, content, domain names, and email addresses associated with the breach within 24 hours of intimation.
DELHI HIGH COURT
RAHUL MISHRA & ANR. v. JOHN DOE & ANR.
In a copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by internationally acclaimed designer Rahul Misra, the Court restrained the Defendant from selling and/or offering to sell counterfeit dresses or using the trademark ‘Rahul Misra’, and the domain www. rahudress.com. The Hon’ble Court further passed directions to the
Domain Name Registrar to lock and suspend the domain while providing the Plaintiff with KYC details available with them.
Significant Judgments
DELHI HIGH COURT
RELIANCE RETAIL LIMITED v. RILBUSINESS.IN & ORS.
Reliance Retail filed a suit seeking permanent injunction to restrain trademark infringement, passing off, copyright infringement, and unfair competition concerning its trademarks ‘RELIANCE’ and ‘CAMPA’. It was contended that the CAMPA mark enjoys widespread recognition among Indian consumers with established online presence through its official website and social media platform. The Bombay High Court has also recognized CAMPA mark as a well known trademark in 2023. The grievance of the Plaintiff arose when:
a. Plaintiff received several complaints from customers and the public regarding fake enterprise disguised as Plaintiff’s agent offering position in ‘Campa Cola Pvt. Ltd’ by using domain name ‘rilbusiness.in’ and collecting huge sums of money. Investigation revealed that multiple websites and social media platforms were being used for conducting fraudulent activities, deceiving the public by falsely associating themselves with the Plaintiff and unauthorizedly offering franchisee / distributorship opportunities for CAMPA COLA.
b. Defendants, who are operating websites and social media accounts, uses identical interface of the Plaintiff’s official website, to mislead and defraud unwary customers. Accordingly, the Court passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction order, restraining the Defendants from using Plaintiff’s trademarks. Social media intermediaries including WhatsApp, Meta, YouTube, Linkedin and X.com were directed to suspend the accounts and links associated with the Defendants.
a. Plaintiff received several complaints from customers and the public regarding fake enterprise disguised as Plaintiff’s agent offering position in ‘Campa Cola Pvt. Ltd’ by using domain name ‘rilbusiness.in’ and collecting huge sums of money. Investigation revealed that multiple websites and social media platforms were being used for conducting fraudulent activities, deceiving the public by falsely associating themselves with the Plaintiff and unauthorizedly offering franchisee / distributorship opportunities for CAMPA COLA.
b. Defendants, who are operating websites and social media accounts, uses identical interface of the Plaintiff’s official website, to mislead and defraud unwary customers. Accordingly, the Court passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction order, restraining the Defendants from using Plaintiff’s trademarks. Social media intermediaries including WhatsApp, Meta, YouTube, Linkedin and X.com were directed to suspend the accounts and links associated with the Defendants.
DELHI HIGH COURT
RAJAT SHARMA & ANR v. TAMARA DOC & ORS
The High Court of Delhi addressed the misuse of AI and deepfake technology to exploit the identity of a public figure. The case, brought by Mr. Rajat Sharma, one of India’s most respected journalists and a household name, and host of iconic shows like Aap Ki Adalat and Aaj Ki Baat: Rajat Sharma Ke Saath, marks a critical milestone in protecting personality rights in the digital age. The exploitation of his likeness by unknown Defendants, including doctored videos and false endorsements of health remedies on Facebook, risked severe harm, not just to his reputation, but also to the public’s trust in credible journalism. Accordingly, the Court granted an ex-parte ad interim order:
1. Restraining unauthorized use of Mr. Sharma’s name, voice, likeness, image, photos, videos, etc., for any commercial or personal gain, and of Plaintiff No. 2
(INDIA TV)’s registered trademarks and copyrighted works.
2. Directing Meta to take down the AI-generated and doctored content falsely associating him with health remedies, and permitting the Plaintiffs to approach
Meta in case of future instances of such infringement on its platform.
3. Directing government departments (DOT and MEITY) to issue necessary notifications to telecom and internet service providers to block access to such
infringing websites / platforms as informed by the Plaintiffs.
DELHI HIGH COURT
PhonePe Pvt Limited & Anr v. AGF Finlease India Limited
In a suit filed by PhonePe against the Defendant’s unauthorised use of the name/ marks PhonePey/’PhonePeyLoan’/ in relation to identical services as that of PhonePe, viz. loan services, a Single Judge of the Delhi High Court granted an ad-interim injunction restraining the Defendants from using the impugned marks in relation to any goods or services whatsoever, resulting in infringement/ passing off and acts of unfair competition and dilution of Plaintiff’s PhonePe marks and copyright in its marks. Directions were also passed to DNRs, Meta and LinkedIn for take down of the Defendant’s website and social media pages.
Meet the Picklers
Sneha Jain, Snehima Jauhari, Aniruddh Bhatia, Saif Rahman Ansari, Disha Sharma, Surabhi Pande, Rimjhim Tiwari, Mehr Sidhu, Srishti Dhoundiyal, Ishi Singh.
