The Delhi High Court while passing an ad interim injunction in favour of a famous online business to business internet marketplace in the case Indiamart Intermesh Limited v. Mr. Sameer Samim Khan & Ors observed and has restrained a person, who was allegedly duping public by misrepresenting himself as the company’s representative and offering job opportunities, from using the mark ‘Indiamart’ or any other name which is identical to it.
The bench comprising of Justice Pratibha M Singh observed and has also directed immediate blocking of the domain name https://india-mart.co/ which was being operated by him and asked the police to conduct investigation in the matter.
The Court ordered that the domain name https://india-mart.co/ shall be locked and suspended by the domain name registrar- GoDaddy.com LLC. The Status quo shall be maintained as to the ownership of the domain name. Further, the email address, wecare@india-mart.co shall also be blocked by the Defendant No.3. i.e., GoDaddy.com.
In the present case, the Indiamart had sued Khan over illegal and unauthorised adoption and use of its trademark, alleging that he was luring gullible persons and was offering them the ‘work from home’ jobs under the ‘Indiamart’s Data Entry Project’. Before the court, it was claimed that Khan was offering various plans to the public on payment of an application fees of Rs. 899 and 1199.
The Court stated that it is clear that Khan is “completely passing off” and indulging in fraudulent activity by showcasing himself as Indiamart’s representative and collecting various sums of money by allegedly offering job opportunities.
Further, the court stated that the website leaves no doubt in the mind of the Court that the entire business of Defendant No.1 is mala fide, dishonest and illegal and also contrary to law. Thus, the court has directed GoDaddy.com to place on record the details of the person who had registered the said domain name and if the same had been granted any request for ‘privacy protect feature’ to the Domain Name Registrant.
However, the details regarding the payment received from Khan and any further services being offered to him have also been sought from GoDaddy.
It was observed that the court directed the ACP of Delhi Police’s Cyber Crime Unit to conduct an investigation in the matter and to file a status report by the next date of hearing. It was also assured by the Officer to the Court that he will be speaking with the relevant bank for immediate freezing of Khan’s bank account.
The court was also assured by the counsel appearing for the bench that the bank account in question will be immediately frozen.
