Delhi High Court - Orders
Flipkart Internet Private Limited vs Godaddy Operating Company Llc & Ors on 14 October, 2020
Author: Rajiv Shakdher
Bench: Rajiv Shakdher
$~1
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 370/2020
FLIPKART INTERNET PRIVATE LIMITED .....Plaintiff
Through : Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Sr. Adv. with Mr.
Saikrishna Rajagopal, Mr. BD
Chopra, Ms. Shilpa Gupta, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Vaarish Sawlani, Mr.
Ranjeet Singh Sidhu and Manjira,
Advs.
versus
GODADDY OPERATING COMPANY LLC & ORS. .....Defendants
Through : Mr. Vakul Sharma, Adv. for D-1.
Mr. K.R. Shashiprabhu with Mr.
Tushar Bhardwaj, Advs. for D-25.
Mr. Prafulla Rocky, authorized
representative of defendant no. 26.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SHAKDHER
ORDER
% 14.10.2020 [Court hearing convened via video-conferencing on account of COVID-19] I.A. No. 9364/2020
1. Issue notice to the non-applicants via all means including e-mail. 1.1 Mr. Vakul Sharma accepts service on behalf of defendant no. 1 while Mr. K.R. Shashiprabhu accepts service on behalf of defendant no. 25. 1.2 Likewise, Mr. Prafulla Rockey, who is the authorized representative of defendant no. 26, accepts service on behalf of the said defendant.
2. On 10.09.2020, an interim order had been passed against the parties who were already arrayed as defendants.
CS(COMM) 370/2020 1/3 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:15.10.2020 13:03:583. Mr. Rajiv Nayar, learned senior counsel, who appears for the plaintiff, says that the malady continues to subsist. It is Mr. Nayar‟s contention that the plaintiff has now discovered other persons/entities who acting under the cloak of anonymity and are duping the public at large by representing themselves as the plaintiff on their respective websites. 3.1 In this behalf, Mr. Nayar has drawn my attention to paragraph 7 of the captioned application. According to Mr. Nayar, the new websites, which are infringing upon the plaintiff‟s intellectual property rights and contain the word marks "Flipkart" and "The Big Billion Day" are the following:
S. No. Website Domain Name Registrar
1. flipkartgift.com Godaddy
2. flipkrt-salees.com Godaddy
3. flipkarrtoffer.xyz Godaddy
4. pvt-flipkart-deals.xyz Godaddy
5. flipkrtdeals.club Namecheap
6. flipkrtdhamaka.store Public Domain Registry
7. live-sales36.online Public Domain Registry
8. live-sales37.online Public Domain Registry
9. ive-sales38.online Public Domain Registry
10. Phonpae.com Godaddy
11. heflipkart.club Godaddy
12. big-billion-off.shop Godaddy
13. flpkrtsalee.xyz Godaddy
14. fllpkirt.com/ Godaddy
15. flpkartoffer.today Godaddy
3.2 According to Mr. Nayar, the infringing websites set out in serial nos.
1 to 4 and 10 to 15 are registered with defendant no. 1 i.e. GoDaddy Operating Company LLC while the infringing website set out in serial no. 5 is registered with Namecheap, Inc. CS(COMM) 370/2020 2/3 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:15.10.2020 13:03:58 3.3 Insofar as the infringing websites mentioned at serial nos. 6 to 9 are concerned, Mr. Nayar says that they are registered with the Public Domain Registry.
3.4 It is in this context that Mr. Nayar seeks impleadment of the aforementioned websites and the concerned domain name registrar [DNR] except GoDaddy Operating Company LLC and Namecheap, Inc. who stand already arrayed as defendant nos. 1 and 7 respectively. 3.5 Given these circumstances, Public Domain Registry is arrayed as defendant no. 31. Likewise, the infringing websites referred to in the tabular chart set out in paragraph 3.1 above are arrayed as defendant nos. 32 to 46. 3.7 The amended memo of parties is, formally, taken on record.
4. The interim directions, which were passed by me on 10.09.2020, will apply mutatis mutandis to the newly arrayed defendant no. 31, the newly arrayed infringing websites i.e. defendant nos. 32 to 46 as also to the already arrayed DNRs i.e. GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC and Namecheap, Inc.
5. List the captioned application on 19.10.2020.
6. In the meanwhile, steps will be taken to serve the defendants who are already the part of the suit action via all means including email.
7. Furthermore, the defendants, who are already represented today, will file their reply(ies) to the captioned application before the next date of hearing.
RAJIV SHAKDHER, J OCTOBER 14, 2020 PMC/KK Click here to check corrigendum, if any CS(COMM) 370/2020 3/3 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:15.10.2020 13:03:58