$~ J2 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Reserved on: 31^st May, 2025 Pronounced on: 24^th December, 2025 Uploaded on: 24^th December, 2025 + CS (COMM) 135/2022 & I.As. 3423/2022, 1221/2023 & 8858/2025 DABUR INDIA LIMITED ..... Plaintiff Through: Mr. Anirudh Bakhru, Mr. Ankur Chhibber, Mr. Prabhu Tandon, Mr. Avijit Sharma, Ms. Kripa Pandit, Mr. Christopher Thomas, Mr. Bhanu Gupta, Ms Archita Mahlawat, & Mr. Sazid Rayeen, Advs. (M:

7838499168)

versus ASHOK KUMAR AND ORS ..... Defendants Through: Mr. Yashvardhan Singh, Advocate for D-1. (M:9667056770)

Ms. Geetanjali Viswanathan, Mr. Yash Raj, Ms. Kruttika Vijay & Ms. Aishwarya Kane, Mr. Yash Raj, Advs.

for D-5 (M-9910083144)

Mr. Darpan Wadhwa Sr. Adv. with Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal, Mr. Pradyumn Sharma, Ms. Shivani Chaudhary & Mohd. Kamran, Advs. (M:9987115749)

Mr. K.G. Gopalakrishnan, Mr. Kunwar Raj Singh and Ms. Nisha Mohandas, Advs for D-7.

(M:8800556341)

Mr. Apoorv Kurup & Ms. Kirti Dadheech, Advs. for R-3. (M:

8929015368)

Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang & Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates.

Mr. Mr. Shubhendu Anand, Mr. Piyush M. Dwivedi, Advs.

(M:7827709253)

Mr Kushal Gupta & Mr. Mohd Umar Advocates.

Mr. Prashant Prakash, Adv.

Ms. Lakahmi Kruttika Vijay & Ms. Aishwarya Kane, Advs for D-5. (M:

9643233842)

Mr. Ateev Kumar Mathur & Mr. Amol Sharma , Advocates Mr. Sarfaraz Khan & Mr Abdul Wahid, Advs for UCO Bank Mr. Rajesh Kumar Gautam & Ms. Deepanjal Choudhary, Advs. (M:

9910783067)

Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Mr. Ateev Mathur, Mr. Amol Sharma, Mr. Tanmay Garg, Mr. Aman Siwasiya, Advs. for HDFC Bank (M. 9958609042)

Mr. Varun Pathak, Mr. Thejesh Rajendran & Mr. Tanuj Sharma, Advs.

for D-17. (M: 9599198161)

Mr. Vinay Yadav, Mr. Ansh Kalra, Mr. Divyanshu, Mr. Ansh Kalra and Ms.

Kamna Behrani, Advs. for R-3 and 4.

Mr. Susmit Pushkar, Adv.

Mr. C.M. Lall, Sr. Adv. with Ms. Ananya Mehan, Mr. Nirupam Lodha, Mr. Kshitij Parashar and Ms. Vanshika Thapliyal, Advs. (M:7310123456)

Mr. Rajesh Kumar Gautam Adv, Miss Likivi K Jakhalu Adv, Mr Dinesh Sharma Adv. (Mr. Srinivasa Rao - IBA Representative through VC).

Mr. Deepak Gogia, Mr. Aadhar Nautiyal, Ms. Shivangi Kohli, Advs.

for D-18.

CORAM:

JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH s

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh J., This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

I. BACKGROUND

1. What is a domain name? A domain name is the address of a business/individual/entity on the internet. The website built on the domain name is like a shop being built at the physical address of a business. In the internet age, domain names/websites form the `Online Soul’ of a business. In order to maintain the distinctive nature of the business, domain names are usually registered using the brand name, house name or trade mark with which the business is associated. Any misuse of the same by registration of fraudulent domain names and creation of fake websites results in erosion of the integrity and goodwill of the business house and name, as also leads to consumer deception.

2. This batch of several commercial suits have been filed by various trademark owners seeking injunctions against misuse of their trademarks through registration of domain names by unknown persons. These domain names consist of either the full trademark or a distinctive part of the trademark or the brand name and are being used for illegitimate means in order to derive monetary benefits. The domain names that are registered are being misused in various forms such as:

(i) Registration of the domain names posing themselves as the Plaintiffs and collecting money under the garb of offering jobs, dealerships, franchisees, etc. The infringing domain name is used to create a website that hosts almost identical or similar content as that of the Plaintiffs’ website. In some infringing websites similar logos or marks as that of the Plaintiffs’ are used along with misleading or deceptive information thereby enticing the general public into making payments through digital transactions into bank accounts which are not