HC restrains airing ads disparaging OLX

The Delhi High Court has restrained automotive e-commerce site Cars24 Services Limited from airing advertisements disparaging the services offered by OLX, an online trade facilitator.
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw in an ex-parte order directed Cars24 to remove the advertisements with immediate effect and issued notice to the e-commerce site while seeking reply before March 27.
"The defendant (Cars24), till further orders is restrained from airing the advertisements by using the lines aforesaid and are directed to immediately remove the said advertisements and also restrained from airing any other advertisement disparaging the plaintiffs (OLX)," the bench said.
In its plea before the High Court through advocate Pravin Anand, OLX contended that in December last year, it came to its knowledge that the automotive e-commerce site has launched a targeted online advertising campaign by which it is promoting its own services by blatantly disparaging its services.

OLX later approached the High Court against Cars24 for allegedly airing advertisement in the name of 'QLX', which they claimed was a direct reference to their brand name.
"Defendants being well aware that no genuine comparison is being made have used the trademark 'QLX' which is deceptively similar to the trademark OLX....The fact that Cars24 has chosen to thinly veil its reference to OLX as QLX highlights their mala fide intentions and points squarely of their sole intention of disparaging OLX's services," OLX said.