Delhi High Court - Orders
Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd & Anr vs Dream11 Prime And Others on 29 August, 2025
Author: Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
Bench: Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
$~9
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 448/2020
SPORTA TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD & ANR. .....Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Rohan Krishna Seth with Mr.
Ritwik Marwaha, Advs.
versus
DREAM11 PRIME AND OTHERS .....Defendants
Through: Mr. Vikrant N. Goyal, Mr. Arun
Kumar Yadav, Mr. Kunal Dixit & Mr.
Prince Balyan, Advs. for D-62 and
63.
Ms. Sreeja Sengupta, counsel for D-
52, 54, 57, 60, 123, 222
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA
ORDER
% 29.08.2025
CS(COMM) 448/2020
I.A. 12256/2025 (Order XIIIA Rule 3 and 6 CPC) I.A. 9344/2020 (Order XXXIX Rule 1 and 2 CPC)
1. The Plaintiff has filed the present suit seeking restraint against the infringement of Plaintiff's registered trademarks DREAM11 CHAMPIONS, , , , , , (hereinafter, the 'DREAM11 trademarks'), passing off, and other ancillary reliefs. Case setup in the plaint
2. The relevant facts, as stated in the pleading, are as under:-
2.1 Plaintiff launched its popular fantasy sports platform under the brand CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 1 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 'Dream11' in the year 2012, and since then (and as on the date of filing of the present suit) it has been the official sponsor of International Council of Cricket (ICC), The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Premiera Division (La Liga), Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL), KFC Big Bash League (BBL), Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20, etc. 2.2 The Plaintiff's Dream11 platform was started as a one-stop provider of a number of online fantasy sports events/ leagues, where a user would draft virtual teams based on real players of a professional sport. These virtual drafted teams get points based on the performance of the players in actual games and depending on the points scored by a user's virtual team, they would then be rewarded monetarily. 2.3 It is stated that as on the date of filing of the present suit, the Plaintiff's mobile and online platform had over nine (9) crore users playing fantasy cricket football, hockey, kabaddi, baseball, handball and basketball. The said number has consistently increased since then. 2.4 The Plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the DREAM11 trademarks, with the earliest registration dating back to the year 2009. Additionally, the Plaintiff is also the registrant of the domain 'dream11.com', which domain has been registered since 17.03.2008. Details of the Plaintiffs' DREAM11 trademarks registrations are mentioned at paragraph 9 of the plaint.
2.5 The Plaintiff instituted the present suit against rouge websites that were predominantly using the Plaintiff's registered DREAM11 trademarks as part of their domain names and that appeared to have cropped up close on the heels of the Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020). Submissions on behalf of the Plaintiff CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 2 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15
3. Learned counsel for the Plaintiff states that some of the rouge websites were copying the entire get-up and layout of the Plaintiff's website (www.dream11.com) in order to deceive and lure customers where they were promoting fake and fraudulent lottery/lucky draw schemes and asking unwary customers to deposit money to claim prizes like cars, scooters, TVs and tablets, or being used for unlawful activities such as betting and gambling.
3.1 He states that among the several domains that were impleaded in the suit, there were some that were purchased and thereafter, parked by the Defendants for the purposes of domain squatting and to sell these domains to third parties at a premium.
3.2 He states that aggrieved by the acts of the Defendants, the Plaintiff filed the present suit and impleaded (i) the domains (being rogue entities),
(ii) the Domain Name Registrars (that provided the infringing domains for registration), and (iii) Union of India (Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Electronics and Infoirmation Technology ('Meity'), and National Internet Exchange of India). 3.3 He states that since the Plaintiff was witnessing a proliferation of the rogue domains/websites, the Plaintiff also impleaded Defendant No. 65 as 'John Doe', for the purposes of seeking a dynamic injunction. He states that the present suit was originally filed against Defendant Nos. 1 to 65. 3.4 He states that the predecessor Bench of this Court passed an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against Defendant Nos. 1 to 65 vide order dated 14.10.2020 restraining the Defendants from infringing Plaintiff's DREAM11 trademarks.
3.5 He states that during the pendency of the suit proceedings, the CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 3 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Plaintiff discovered additional domains/websites that were using the Plaintiff's DREAM11 trademarks and were engaged in similar infringing activities; and accordingly, Plaintiff filed the following applications -
a. I.A. No. 695 of 2021: Sought impleadment of Defendant Nos. 66 to
149. The said application was allowed by the Court on 11.02.2021 and the directions of interim injunction issued in the Order dated 14.10.2020 were extended to the said Defendants. b. I.A. No. 11718 of 2021: Sought impleadment of Defendant Nos. 150 to 230. The said application was allowed by the Court on 20.09.2021 and the directions of interim injunction issued in the Order dated 14.10.2020 were extended to the said Defendants as well. 3.6 He submits that for the sake of completeness, the Plaintiff has impleaded (i) the infringing domains (which direct to rogue websites) as Defendant Nos. 1 to 51 and 66 to 216, (ii) the associated Domain Name Registrars (for the purposes of suspension and locking of the above domains) as Defendant Nos. 52 to 61 and 217 to 230, and (iii) the Union of India as Defendant Nos. 62 to 64.
3.7 He states that for Defendant Nos. 1 to 3, 5 to 51, 53, 55, 56, 58 to 230, their failure to file written statements or to appear before this Court entitles the Plaintiff to seek a judgment not only under Order XIIIA of the CPC (as amended by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015), but also under Order VIII Rule 10, CPC.
3.8 He has placed reliance on the judgments of the coordinate Benches of this Court in Satya Infrastructure Ltd. & Ors. vs. Satya Infra & Estates CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 4 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Pvt. Ltd.1 and Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd. v. Kunwer Sachdev and Anr.2 and states that time and again it has been held by this Court that in cases such as these, where the Defendants neither file their written statement, nor appear on any of the dates, the Court has the power to pass a judgment under Order VIII Rule 10, CPC as also under Order XIIIA of the CPC, 1908.
4. Learned counsel for the Plaintiff has handed over written submissions dated 28.08.2025, along with list of domains/websites forming part of the present suit annexed as Annexure-B to the written submissions; and prays that the suit may be decreed qua all the websites/Defendants as mentioned in Annexure-B in terms of the prayer (a), (b) and (e) of paragraph 39 of the amended plaint.
Proceedings in the Suit
5. In compliance with the orders dated 14.10.2020, 11.02.2021 and 20.09.2021, the Plaintiff served the Defendants in the following manner-:
a. Defendant Nos. 1 to 65 were served with the summons via email on 01.12.2020 and the service affidavit to that effect was filed on 02.02.20213.
b. Defendant Nos. 66 to 149 were served with summons via email on 26.02.2021 and the service affidavit to that effect was filed on 15.03.20214.
c. Defendant Nos. 150 to 199, 208 to 214, 217 to 219 and 224 to 228 were served with the summons via email on 14.10.2021 and the 1 2013 (54) PTC 419 (Del) [Paras 4 and 5] 2 2019 SCC OnLine Del 10764 [Paras 90 to 92] 3 Proof of service annexed as Document - 2 filed along-with I.A. No. 12256 of 2025.
4Proof of service annexed as Document - 3 filed along-with I.A. No. 12256 of 2025.
CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 5 of 15This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 service affidavit to that effect was filed on 19.10.20215. d. Defendant Nos. 200 to 207, 215, 216, 220 to 223, 229 and 230 were served with the summons on 16.09.2023 and the service affidavit to that effect was filed on 16.09.20236.
6. Service of summons upon Defendant Nos. 1 to 199 (except Defendant No. 65, who is 'John Doe' impleaded for the purposes of seeking a dynamic injunction), 208 to 214, 217 to 219 and 224 to 228 have been recorded in the Order dated 03.08.2022; and service of summons upon Defendant Nos. 200 to 207, 215, 216, 220 to 223, 229 and 230 have been recorded in the Order dated 25.09.2023. He states that therefore, as on date, all the Defendants stand served.
7. As on date, the written statements have only been filed by Defendant Nos. 4, 52, 54 and 57 (all of whom are Domain Name Registrars). None of the remaining Defendants have filed their written statement and their statutory time (of 120 days) to file the same has also lapsed.
8. Additionally, the Defendant Nos. 30 (dream11.life), 32 (dream11.org), 33 (dream11.net), 35 (dream11.co) and 38 (dream11.co.in) have been removed from the array of parties vide Order dated 11.02.2021, as the said domains were acquired/purchased by the Plaintiff during the pendency of the suit proceedings.
9. A perusal of Defendant No. 4's written statement, reflects that the said Defendant has not challenged the Plaintiff's statutory and proprietary right in its DREAM11 trademarks, and has, on the contrary, argued that (i) Defendant No. 52 (i.e., GoDaddy.com, LLC) provided the domain to the 5 Proof of service annexed as Document - 4 filed along-with I.A. No. 12256 of 2025.
6Proof of service annexed as Document - 5 filed along-with I.A. No. 12256 of 2025 CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 6 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 said Defendant as a suggestion, for registration, and (ii) that after the Order dated 14.10.2020 was communicated to them on 16.10.2020, they have since given-up all use of the domain 'dream11indian.com'. He states that in view of the above stance and the fact that Defendant No. 4 has not appeared before this Court, it is apparent that the said Defendant does not have any objection to suffering a decree in the suit.
10. Defendant Nos. 52, 54 and 57 are Domain Name Registrants and they have not opposed the reliefs prayed for in the plaint. Findings and Analysis
11. The Court has heard the learned counsel for the Plaintiffs and perused the record of the case.
12. The predecessor bench of this Court vide Order dated 14.10.2020 had granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of the Plaintiffs, in terms of prayer (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 22 of I.A. 9344/2020. The websites of the Defendants which have been blocked in pursuance of the said injunction Order are enlisted at Annexure B of the written submissions.
13. The plaint has been duly verified and is also supported by the affidavit of the Plaintiffs. In view of the fact that no written statement has been filed by the Defendant Nos. 1 to 3, 5 to 51, 53, 55, 56, 58 to 230, all the averments made in the plaint have to be taken to be admitted. As recorded above Defendant Nos. 4, 52, 54 and 57 are not opposing the reliefs prayed for in the plaint. None of the Defendants have approached the Court for variation or vacation of the injunction Order dated 14.10.2020.
14. At this stage, it would be apposite to refer to Order VIII Rule 10 of CPC. The said rule reads as under: -
"10. Procedure when party fails to present written statement CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 7 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 called for by Court.-- Where any party from whom a written statement is required under rule 1 or rule 9 fails to present the same within the time permitted or fixed by the Court, as the case may be, the Court shall pronounce judgment against him, or make such order in relation to the suit as it thinks fit and on the pronouncement of such judgment a decree shall be drawn up."
15. It would be relevant to refer to the dicta of Satya Infrastructure Ltd. & Ors. v. Satya Infra & Estates Pvt. Ltd. (supra), wherein the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court held as under: -
"4. The next question which arises is whether this Court should consider the application for interim relief and direct the plaintiffs to lead ex parte evidence. The counsel for the plaintiff's states that the plaintiffs are willing to give up the reliefs of delivery, of rendition of accounts and of recovery of damages, if the suit for the relief of injunction alone were to be heard today.
5. I am of the opinion that no purpose will be served in such cases by directing the plaintiffs to lead ex parte evidence in the form of affidavit by way of examination-in chief and which invariably is a repetition of the contents of the plaint. The plaint otherwise, as per the amended CPC, besides being verified, is also supported by affidavits of the plaintiffs. I fail to fathom any reason for according any additional sanctity to the affidavit by way of examination-in- chief than to the affidavit in support of the plaint or to any exhibit marks being put on the documents which have been filed by the plaintiffs and are already on record. I have therefore heard the counsel for the plaintiffs on merits qua the relief of injunction."
(Emphasis Supplied)
16. Based on the averments made in the plaint, it is clear that the defendants are actively and knowingly, using the Plaintiffs' DREAM11 trademarks on their Rogue Websites with the common object of exploiting Plaintiffs' exclusive proprietary rights on its DREAM11 trademarks.
17. The Defendants' activities have caused irreparable harm to the CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 8 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Plaintiffs, as these Rogue Websites not only violate and infringe the exclusive rights of the Plaintiffs in its DREAM11 trademarks, but also erode and dilute the value of the exclusive rights by taking away significant revenues from the Plaintiffs.
18. This Court is of the view that given the no contest by the Defendants and the fact that the Plaintiffs have affIrmed the plaint on affidavit, this suit does not merit trial, and the suit is capable of being decreed in terms of Order VIII Rule 10 of CPC. And thus, the Plaintiffs are entitled to relief of permanent injunction as claimed in the plaint.
19. Accordingly, a decree of permanent injunction is passed in favour of the Plaintiffs and against all the Defendants, as mentioned in Schedule7 to this Order, in terms of the prayer clause (a), (b) and (e) of paragraph 39 of the plaint. The interim injunction order dated 14.10.2020 shall merge into the decree.
20. The remaining prayer clauses of the plaintiff are dismissed as not pressed.
21. Let the decree sheet be drawn up.
22. With the aforesaid directions, this suit along with pending applications (if any) stands disposed of.
23. No order as to costs.
24. All future dates stand cancelled.
MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA, J AUGUST 29, 2025/gm/AM 7 Annexure B to the written submissions has been adopted as the Schedule.
CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 9 of 15This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 SCHEDULE LIST OF DOMAINS/WEBSITES FORMING PART OF THE PRESENT SUIT Defendant No. Domain/Website 1 www.dream11prime.com 2 www.dream11predication.com 3 www.dream11tricks.com 4 www.dream11indian.com 5 www.dream11tech.in 6 www.dream11fantasyleague.in 7 www.dream11cricket.com 8 www.dream11guru.in 9 www.dream11.site 10 www.dream11.biz 11 www.dream11predictorpro.com 12 www.dream11prediction.co 13 www.dream11winner.com 14 www.dream11teams.com 15 www.dream11teamfortoday.com 16 www.dream11luckydraw.com 17 www.dream11lab.com 18 www.dream11sage.com 19 www.godream11.com 20 www.dream11teampredictionlive.com 21 www.dream11chasers.com 22 www.dream11prophet.com 23 www.dream11legend.com 24 www.dream11.website 25 www.dream11.online 26 www.dream11.world 27 www.dream11.today 28 www.dream11.tech 29 www.dream11.me 31 www.dream11.club 34 www.dream11.io 36 www.dream11.net.in CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 10 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Defendant No. Domain/Website 37 www.dream11.ind.in 39 www.dream11tech.com 40 www.dream11predictions.com 41 www.dream11pro.com 42 www.dream11crickguru.com 43 www.dream11teamtoday.com 44 www.dream11.fun 45 www.thedream11mart.com 46 www.dream11.space 47 www.dream11wins.com 48 www.dream11.app 49 www.dream11-prediction.club 50 www.dream11.cc 51 www.dream11play.cricket 66 www.dream11online.com 67 www.dream11predication.com 68 www.primedream11.com 69 www.dream11baadshah.com 70 www.dream11.company 71 www.mpldream11.com 72 www.dream11prime.in 73 www.prodream11.com 74 www.dream11astrology.com 75 ww1.dream11cricketbettingtips.com 76 www.dream11crickets.com 77 www.dream11x.com 78 www.paydream11.com 79 www.playwindream11.com 80 www.dream11wizard.com 81 www.dream11proprediction.com 82 www.teamsdream11.com 83 www.dream11-team.com 84 www.mydream11predictions.com 85 www.predictdream11team.com 86 www.sportdream11.com 87 www.dream11clone.com CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 11 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Defendant No. Domain/Website 88 www.dream11kings.com 89 www.dream11crictips.com 90 www.dream11circle.com 91 www.dream11plus.com 92 www.dream11fix.com 93 www.dream11teampro.com 94 www.superdream11.com 95 www.empiredream11.com 96 www.bestdream11tips.com 97 www.dream11matches.com 98 www.dream11criketprediction.com 99 www.getdream11team.com 100 www.dream11-predictions.com 101 www.dream11bestpredictions.com 102 www.dream11-news.com 103 www.dream11adda.com 104 www.1team1dream11.com 105 www.dream11teamtips.com 106 www.dream11nsfc.com 107 www.dream11pirates.com 108 www.dream11xpert.com 109 www.dream11onlinecontest.com 110 www.ludodream11.com 111 www.dream11smart.com 112 www.dream11hub.com 113 www.dream11-ipl.com 114 www.dream11exch.com 115 www.dream11exch9.com 116 www.dream11ipl2020.com 117 www.mydream11online.com 118 www.dream11fantastic.com 119 www.dream11ipl2021.com 120 www.dream11privatecontests.com 121 www.dream11ipltwenty20.com 122 www.dream11eleven.com 123 www.dream11cricketteams.com CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 12 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Defendant No. Domain/Website 124 www.dream11dream11.com 125 www.dream11iplofficial.com 126 www.dream11official.com 127 www.mydream11.fun 128 www.dream11teams.in 129 www.dream11tricks.in 130 www.dream11guruji.in 131 www.dream11prime.co.in 132 www.ipldream11.in 133 www.dream11glteams.in 134 www.dream11prediction.co.in 135 www.dream11-prediction.in 136 www.dream11prediction.com 137 www.dream11.best 138 www.dream11teamprediction.com 139 www.dream11worldcup.com 140 www.khelodream11.com 141 www.dream11livescores.com 142 www.dream11iplt20.com 143 www.dream11.cricket 144 www.dream11prediction.cricket 145 www.dream11.expert 146 www.dream11cricket.cricket 147 www.dream11.download 148 www.dream11cricket.download 149 www.mydream11prediction.com 150 www.dream11.co.uk 151 www.dream11fantasy.today 152 www.dream11team.com 153 www.bawlonedream11.com 154 www.dream110017.com 155 www.dream1124.info 156 www.mydream11team.com 157 www.bigdream11.com 158 www.dream11winningteams.com 159 www.dream11-pro.com CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 13 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Defendant No. Domain/Website 160 www.perfectdream11.com 161 www.dream11pandit.com 162 www.teamdream11.com 163 www.dream11play.com 164 www.dream11app.com 165 www.todaydream11team.com 166 www.predictdream11.com 167 www.dream11-prediction.com 168 www.dream11champions.com 169 www.todaydream11.com 170 www.dream11live.com 171 www.edream11.com 172 www.dream11master.com 173 www.dream11fantasy.com 174 www.dream11ipl.xyz 175 www.dream11teampredictions.com 176 www.ipldream11.com 177 www.dream11prediction.com 178 www.cricdream11.com 179 www.yourdream11.com 180 www.sgteam11.com 181 www.icedream11.com 182 www.mydream11.xyz 183 www.dream11ipl20.xyz 184 www.dream11teamone.xyz 185 www.dream11iplschedule.xyz 186 www.dream11prime.xyz 187 www.dream11s.xyz 188 www.indiadream11.com 189 www.visiondream11.com 190 www.bestdream11team.com 191 www.dream11hindi.com 192 www.dream11experts.com 193 www.dream11tips.com 194 www.dream11india.com 195 www.dream11europeancricketseries.com CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 14 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15 Defendant No. Domain/Website 196 www.dream11ecs.com 197 www.dream11eurocup.cricket 198 www.dream11ecs.cricket 199 www.dream11europeancricketseries.cricket 200 www.dream112.com 201 www.dream111.com 202 www.youngdream1128.com 203 www.dream1111.com 204 www.yoursexydream11.com 205 www.iidream11.com 206 www.dream11crickettips.com 207 www.idream11.com 208 www.dream11iplprediction.com 209 www.dream11primepremium.com 210 www.dream119.com 211 www.dream11team11.com 212 www.dream11teamipl2020.xyz 213 www.dream11freeteam.com 214 www.dream11hindi.expert 215 www.mydream11.com 216 www.dream114.com CS(COMM) 448/2020 Page 15 of 15 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 04/09/2025 at 21:37:15