9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (1) TMI 1317X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order against the defendants from infringing it's plaintiff's copyrights and the acts of passing off, in the marks "UTI"/"UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited"/"UTI ITSL"/"UTI PAN"/"UTIITSL" ("marks"), subsisting in the Plaintiff's label ("Label"), by the defendant nos. 1 to 4, with an intention to misrepresent the citizens of India and the public at large, that they are authorized by the plaintiff or authorized to act at the behest of the plaintiff, in providing services relating to and in connection with the issuance of Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card. The plaintiff is authorized by the Income Tax Department for processing the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and PAN related services like issuance of documents such as Aadhar Card, Voter ID, driving license, etc. The services provided by the plaintiff are exclusive in nature underpinning the national importance of it's work, to the citizens of India, since PAN is a unique 10-digit alphanumeric identity allotted to each taxpayer by the Income Tax Department ("ITD") under the supervision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. PAN is mandatory to track and maintain record of all the financial transactions concerning ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y passing off the marks and infringing the Plaintiff's copyright on the Label and who have indulged themselves in misrepresenting the public as being authorized to provide services on behalf of the Plaintiff, despite the fact that they are not issued any licence or authority to use the marks and the label and/or provide services on it's behalf. The Defendant Nos. 5 to 13 are the Registrars, who have been added as the entities, who in their usual course of business permit the users to register domain names. Defendant No. 14 is John Doe i.e., unknown defendant and have been arrayed, since it is impossible to identify such defendants. 5] It is the specific case of the plaintiff that there are various unscrupulous persons or entities who have been engaged in the fraudulent acts, and it is not possible to monitor the activities of such entities, as different domain names are floated from time to time in an attempt to pass themselves off as the plaintiff, to perpetuate the fraud and therefore, urgent ad-interim orders are sought by the Interim Application. It is pleaded by the plaintiff that there are other unknown defendants i.e., Defendant No. 14, whose addresses are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Plaintiff's brand. The Plaintiff's mark and the Label have been extensively advertised in several leading magazines, newspapers, televisions, online portals, social and other forms of media since many years, and the plaintiff has specifically pleaded that it has invested considerable amount of time and resources on enhancing the visibility and marketability of its marks and Label, to ensure absolute certainty of identification of the Plaintiff being the entity authorized by the Government of India to provide the requisite services. The words "UTI"/ "UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited"/"UTI ITSL"/ "UTI PAN"/ "UTIITSL" form an integral part of the Plaintiff's Corporate Name, Identity and is extensively used in India and in various parts of the world. The services under the well-known mark as mentioned above, and the Label, are being provided by the Plaintiff in several countries around the world for the citizens of India and abroad. In addition to the above, the Plaintiff has also acquired common law rights to the marks and the Label. Such common law rights have accrued to the benefit of the Plaintiff owing to the extensive, exclusive and continuous use of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... king payments and fabricating public documents. 9] On perusal of the plaint and the Interim Application and on hearing Mr.Rashmin Khandekar, who has assertively demonstrated that the websites, which belong to the rogue entities are misleading, deceptive and deliberately operated by these entities, with an object to piggyback upon the goodwill and reputation of the plaintiff/applicant and acquire confidential data from the individual citizens. 10] On being convinced that the conduct of the defendants in indulging such an act is illegal, in the wake of the statutory rights under Common Law earned by the plaintiff, and they being infringed/violated and compromised by such dubious websites, as there are unknown persons/entities engaged in fraudulent activity of imitating the applicant and it's marks, such defendants and all parties known or unknown, deserve to be restrained from infringing the plaintiff's/applicant's copyright in the label and passing off the marks, as the rights vests in the plaintiff in rem, being the copyright holder thereof. Without a proper licence issued either by the applicant or the ITD, no person is entitled to benefit from it's rights, which exclusively bel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... esentatives and assignees to: (i) Remove/ delete/ take down/ disable the unauthorised domains and/ or websites identified at Exhibit G1 to Exhibit G16; and (ii) Remove/ delete/ take down/ disable other offending/ unauthorised domains and/ or websites as and when shared by the Applicant; e) An order directing the concerned police station(s)/ Cyber Crime Departments/ to render necessary assistance to the Applicant in to ensure full and effective execution of the ad-interim / interim order of this Hon'ble Court in terms of the above." In addition to the above relief, it is directed that in case the Registrars i.e. defendant nos. 5 to 13, who has registered the websites/domain names of distinct entities, notice the name and label of the plaintiff/applicant, they are empowered to direct the entities, who have sought registration to pull down or remove/delete the use of the name and label of the plaintiff, on confirming that it is offending/unauthorized, by conducting a summary inquiry and upon the directions of the Registrars, such material from the website shall be taken down by the defendant no.14 and the other unknown defendants. List the Application for further considera ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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