Delhi High Court: In yet another case of the menace of fake
distributorship / dealership, the plaintiffs, Hell Energy
Magyarorszag Kft., the Hungarian Company, along with its Indian
counterpart, Hell-Energy Private Limited, were compelled to file a
suit to seek protection of its marks 'HELL' and 'HELL
ENERGY' and also its device marks 
, 
, and 
from the unknown defendants who were offering
fake distributorship agreements under the trade mark 'Hell
Energy' to unsuspecting persons, and duping them of large sums
of money, Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sanjeev Narula, while granting
ad-interim injunction to the Plaintiffs, opined "This
deceptive portrayal is not only misleading to the general public
but also constitutes a clear infringement of the Plaintiffs'
registered trademarks and an act of passing off....Thus, the
fraudulent activities of the Imposters would not only likely result
in an erosion of the Plaintiffs' reputation, but also has the
potential to cause grave financial injury to the public at
large."
The Court observed that all the domain names and websites, and the bank accounts which were operated through these domain names, were being used to fraudulently collect money under the plaintiff' name by misusing the plaintiff's brand and marks.
In the present case, a suit for permanent injunction against the imposters along with an application seeking interim injunction had been filed by the plaintiff seeking orders in respect of fake, illegal, and fraudulent websites using the name 'Hell Energy' in an unauthorised manner. The Court considered the two domain names, www.hellenergypvt.com and www.hell-energy.in, which was brought to its notice.
The Court further issued the following directions:
- The unknown and/or anybody acting on their behalf, were restrained from using the Plaintiff's trademarks.
- The Domain Name Registrars, were directed to lock, block and suspend access to the concerned impugned domain names hellenergypvt.com and hell-energy.in, which are registered with them. NIXI was directed to issue appropriate directions to ensure compliance in this regard.
- Mareva injunction was granted for freezing the said bank accounts of the imposters.
- The ISPs were directed to disable the mobile number and disclose the identity of the imposters through the KYC documents of the concerned.
- MeitY and DoT were directed to issue directions to all concerned Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in India, to block access to the websites "www.hellenergypvt.com" and "www.hell-energy.in".
The matter would next be listed on September 4, 2024.
The decision came as a welcome addendum to the pre-existing and ongoing disputes before the Hon'ble Delhi High Court which has been leading in passing necessary injunction orders in favour of brand owners and trademark owners in order to protect their rights and interests.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.