The Delhi High Court has issued a permanent injunction in favor of Tata Power Solar Systems Limited, restraining several registrars of domain names from using domain names and email addresses that infringe upon the company’s trademark.
Tata Power Solar Systems Limited filed a suit against registrars of domain names such as tatapowersolardealership.co.in, tatapowersolars.com, tatapowersolars.org, and tatapowersolarroof.com, alleging that they were using its trademark and duping customers by representing themselves as employees of the company. The company claimed that it had been using its “TATA POWER SOLAR” trademark since 2020 and had acquired a significant reputation and goodwill among consumers.
The company alleged that the defendants were contacting potential customers, claiming to be employees of Tata Power Solar, and collecting money from them under the promise of providing services and dealerships. The court granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction in May 2024, restraining the defendants from using the impugned marks.
Without the defendants filing a written statement or setting up any defense, the court held that it was a fit case for summary judgment. The court observed that the impugned domain names and email addresses used by the defendants indicated that they had copied Tata’s trademarks and took unfair advantage of Tata Solar Power’s reputation and goodwill. The court also noted that the defendants had deceived consumers by associating themselves with Tata and using its registered marks.
The court issued a permanent injunction in favor of Tata Power Solar, restraining the defendants from infringing Tata’s marks. The court held that the plaintiff had established a case of trademark infringement and passing off, and that the defendants had taken unfair advantage of the plaintiff’s reputation and goodwill, deceiving unwary consumers of their association with the plaintiff.