A suit was filed by the Plaintiffs, Colgate Palmolive Company, before the Delhi High Court to issue directions to Defendant No. 3, GoDaddy.com LLC, to permanently block and not allow any future registrations of the domain name www.colgatepalmolive.work. Additionally, the suit also prayed for a permanent injunction, restraining infringement and passing off the trademarks, restraining infringement of the copyright, damages, rendition of accounts, delivery details, and a comprehensive explanation of the timeline and incidents that led to the registration of the domain name and the activities of the Defendants.
Facts
The Plaintiffs alleged that the Defendants were operating deceptive domain names and email addresses which contained the well-known names of the Plaintiffs such as “Colgate” and “Palmolive” including domains such as www.colgatepalmoliveindia.in and emails like hr@colgatepalmoliveindia.in; vishal@colgatepalmoliveindia.in, and info@colgatepalmoliveindia.in. The Defendants misrepresented themselves as part of Colgate Palmolive’s recruitment team, contacting fresh graduates and offering them employment in exchange for a security deposit.
Despite earlier court orders in April and May 2019 that blocked these fraudulent domains and emails, the defendants continued their illegal activities. They even registered a new domain, www.colgatepalmolive.work. Multiple victims, who had been approached by the defendants, reported these activities to Colgate Palmolive, leading to the identification of one defendant associated with a mobile number registered with Reliance JIO INFOCOM Limited.
Arguments and Submissions
The Plaintiffs submitted that Defendant No. 3, GoDaddy.com LLC, as the registrar, had irresponsibly registered domains bearing their well-known trademarks without proper verification. They pointed out that the domain www.colgatepalmolive.work was not used to host a website but solely for sending fraudulent emails, thus damaging their reputation and goodwill. The plaintiffs also cited a previous case in which the court had ruled in their favour, highlighting the importance of maintaining consistent legal protection for their trademarks.
Judgment
The Delhi High Court, finding merit in the plaintiffs’ arguments and evidence, issued an injunction against the use of the domain www.colgatepalmolive.work. The court also ordered GoDaddy.com LLC, along with Canara Bank and Reliance JIO INFOCOM Limited, to provide the plaintiffs with the defendants’ details. Additionally, GoDaddy.com LLC was instructed to refrain from registering or making the domain www.colgatepalmolive.work available in the future.
Authors: Manisha Singh and Tushitta Murali
First Published by: Mondaq here