New Delhi (The Hawk): The Delhi High Court has mandated that all infringing websites that deceive individuals by pretending to be Croma recruiters and demanding their money should be prohibited. A chain of electronics retailers called Croma is owned by Tata.
The Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology were ordered by Justice Sanjeev Narula to prohibit access to the contested websites while the case was in progress. Websites that violate Croma's trademark include www.cromashare.com, www.croma- 2.com, www.croma-1.com, and www.croma-3.com.
The court also asked the domain name registrar for registration information, such as contact information, payment information, and any other details pertaining to the identity of the registrants of the contested websites.
The owner of the retail stores, plaintiff Infiniti Retail Limited, filed a lawsuit in an effort to obtain a long-term injunction preventing the use of its registered trademark and copyright. It is a Tata Group subsidiary.
According to the petitioner's attorney, the scam artists used WhatsApp to deceive the unwary customers by promising them positions at Croma. The document was presented with the statement, "The consumers who fall victim to this scam are made to transfer money to bank accounts/UPI IDs provided by said defendants."
The victims of the fraud may have lost up to Rs 1,65,000, the court was further informed. "Plaintiff is suffering loss of goodwill due to the continuous use of Plaintiff's registered marks and name and the forged signatures of its CEO, Mr. Avijit Mishra, by Defendants Nos. 1 to 4 for the commission of fraud," the attorney claimed.
The court is of the prima facie judgement that the defendants have violated the plaintiff's registered marks, Justice Narula stated in awarding an ex-parte injunction to the plaintiff.
"Through its commercial operations in India, Plaintiff has amassed a sizable amount of goodwill and reputation in the market and has generated a sizable amount of money. The balance of convenience also favours the plaintiff and against defendants nos. 1 through 4, the court stated. "Plaintiff's registered marks are well-known marks, and if no ex-parte interim injunction is issued, Plaintiff will suffer an irreparable harm," it added.
It also ordered the financial service providers to temporarily suspend and deactivate the UPI IDs indicated in the plaint while also ordering the telecom service providers to temporarily suspend and disable the mobile numbers mentioned in the plaint and provide their identifying data.
The court further ordered the defendants to refrain from using or registering offensive domain names anywhere or engaging in any other behaviour that would violate the plaintiff's registered trademarks and copyright until the next hearing date, which is set for March 27, 2023.
(Inputs from Agencies)