HC protects Delhivery against misuse of trademarks, fake franchise scam

The Delhi High Court recently issued an ex parte interim injunction in favour of logistics company Delhivery, safeguarding its registered trademarks and copyright from unauthorised use.

 

Delhivery moved the court after it was alleged that several individuals were acting in concert to falsely project themselves as its representatives, luring customers with sham franchise and delivery offers to siphon off money. The matter is listed for further hearing on March 19.

 

Justice Jyoti Singh found that the marks adopted by the defendants were identical or deceptively similar to Delhivery’s registered trademarks. At a prima facie stage, the court held that the defendants were passing themselves off as being associated with Delhivery with the clear intent of exploiting the company’s goodwill and market reputation. The court further observed that Delhivery and the defendants operated in the same trade channels and catered to the same consumer base, making confusion among customers and members of the trade highly probable in the absence of immediate injunctive relief.

 

 

Accordingly, the defendants were restrained from using Delhivery’s trademarks or any deceptively similar marks in emails, domain names, letterheads, franchise communications, agreements, or in any other manner.

 

Taking note of Delhivery’s submission that deceptive domain names such as delhiverydistibutars.com and delhiverypartner.com were being used, the court directed the concerned domain name registrars to suspend and lock the infringing domains. The court also ordered telecom service providers to disclose the defendants’ complete particulars, including their names, email addresses, and residential details. Banks maintaining the defendants’ accounts were directed to furnish KYC information and to block or suspend the accounts in question.