Delhi High Court Clarifies 2023 Order Restraining FabIndia Trademark Infringement Covers Social Media

The Delhi High Court on 2 September clarified that its 4 December 2023 restraint order protecting FabIndia's trademark also applies to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter/X and other social media platforms, after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) declined to enforce the order against the platforms on the ground that they were not specifically named.

Justice A. J. Bhambhani passed the order in FabIndia's suit alleging infringement of its trademark, copyright and other intellectual property rights. The Bench observed:

“the scope, purport and purpose of order dated 04.12.2023 includes the issuance of a restraint order on the use of the plaintiff's trademark on any digital medium, including social media platforms.”

FabIndia had obtained the restraint order against the defendants on 4 December 2023 in relation to the alleged infringement of its trademark, copyright and other intellectual property rights.

Senior Counsel Viraj R. Datar submitted that MeitY, which is a defendant in the suit, was refusing to direct social media platforms to act against the allegedly infringing content on the ground that the 2023 order did not specifically name platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. FabIndia therefore sought a clarification that the restraint order applied to such platforms.

The High Court clarified that the 2023 order “would apply equally to any online or social media platform such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter/X or any analogues digital channel or handle.”

The matter is next listed on 1 December 2026.