The Delhi High Court has issued an ex parte ad interim order in favour of online retailer Amazon, prohibiting numerous fashion websites from using the word "AMAZON."
Sites including https://amazonbuys.com, Amazon Franchise's Facebook page, and https://estoreamazon.in were put on hold by Justice Jyoti Singh. The Court was hearing a case brought by Amazon Sellers Services Private Limited and its affiliates, who claimed that their copyright was protected in their website and domain name, amazon.in, as well as the general 'look and feel' of www.amazon.in.
The rogue Defendants were accused of cheating unsuspecting members of the public by demanding them to pay a charge to register as a 'Amazon Easy Store.' Plaintiffs announced Amazon Easy, a service that lets interested individuals to start up a 'Amazon Easy Store' by contacting Amazon Easy marketing partners.
It was claimed that the Rogue Defendants had engaged in a pre-planned conspiracy to defraud and dupe innocent members of the public by unauthorised and illegally using Amazon's Marks on their rogue websites and social media pages, and were blatantly reproducing Amazon's Website Content as well as adopting a look and feel that was identical to the website 'www.amazon.in.'
The Rogue Defendants were accused of engaging in infringing and deceptive conduct in order to defraud unsuspecting members of the public who wanted to register as a 'Amazon Easy Store.' It was argued that because of the nature of the Internet, the Rogue Websites were accessible all over the world, including in India, i.e., within the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court, and that any use by them amounted to an infringement of Amazon's exclusive rights under the Trademarks Act, 1999.
The Court reviewed the papers on file, which included Amazon's home page, which highlighted the Rogue Defendants' copying of its website, their websites using Amazon's address, and screenshots of e-mails received from one of the complainants. "After hearing from the Plaintiffs' counsel, this Court believes that the Plaintiffs have established a prima facie case for an ex parte ad-interim injunction.
The Plaintiffs have the balance of convenience on their side, and they are likely to suffer irreparable injury if the injunction requested is not granted. Furthermore, the Rogue Defendants' actions result in pecuniary losses to innocent and unsuspecting members of the public "the Court said As a result, the Court barred the defendants from using the marks "AMAZON," "Amazon.in," and similar terms in any way that could be construed as infringement of Plaintiffs' trademarks until the next hearing date.
The Court also ordered the suspension of Rogue Defendants' bogus Facebook and Instagram accounts. It further ordered the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to send notices instructing various internet and telecom service providers registered with them to ban access to the Rogue Defedants named in the plaint.
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