The Delhi High Court has permitted IndiaMART Intermesh Limited to approach the Commercial Court for clarification on which allegedly infringing product listings it must remove from its platform.
A bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Dinesh Bhatt disposed of an appeal filed by IndiaMART against an order of the Commercial Court, Dwarka, directing it to remove infringing listings upon receiving notice.
The dispute stems from a 1998 family settlement under which Ram Avtar Chamria and Rakesh Chamria accused Kamal Kumar Chamria of violating agreed territorial restrictions by selling products online. The Commercial Court restrained him from dealing in products bearing the disputed family name or trademarks in seven territories.
It directed other e-commerce platforms to restrict deliveries of identified products to these regions, while IndiaMART was asked to remove infringing listings upon receiving notice. IndiaMART challenged the direction, arguing that the specific products and URLs had not been identified, making compliance difficult.
The High Court made clear that it was not examining the merits of the injunction. It observed that IndiaMART's role was limited to removing and delisting infringing listings.
The bench referred to the Bombay High Court's ruling in Metro Shoes Ltd. v. Tolexo Online (P) Ltd., where an online intermediary was directed to provide the contact details of the vendor responsible for placing allegedly infringing products on its platform. The aggrieved party could then seek appropriate orders directly against the vendor.
It also referred to the Delhi High Court's ruling in Happi Planet Eco Products (P) Ltd. v. Ravi Malani Trading As Febway India, where e-commerce platforms were directed to remove identified infringing listings. The court had also permitted the aggrieved company to forward additional infringing listings directly to the platforms under a dynamic injunction, without approaching the court again.
"Accordingly, Courts have usually directed Plaintiffs or persons aggrieved to furnish the list of the links to be removed," the bench observed.
It further observed, “…If there is any ambiguity in respect of which infringing listings are to be taken down, the purpose of the Appellant would be sufficiently served if it is permitted to move an application seeking clarification of the same from the said Commercial Court.”
The High Court disposed of the appeal, allowing IndiaMART to approach the Commercial Court for clarification or modification of the order, if required.
For Appellant: Advocates Naman Joshi and Priya Goyal