Delhi High Court Quashes 'NAUKRIYAN' Trademark, Says It Is Deceptively Similar To Naukri.com

The Delhi High Court has recently quashed the trademark registration of "NAUKRIYAN," finding it deceptively similar to the “NAUKRI” mark used by Info Edge (India) Limited for its flagship job portal, Naukri.com.

In a judgment delivered on March 10, 2026, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the dominant and essential feature in both marks is the word "naukri." According to the court, “naukriyan” is simply the plural form of the Hindi word “naukri”, meaning job, and that this variation does not create enough distinctiveness to avoid confusion, particularly since both parties offer similar employment-related services.

Info Edge challenged a March 25, 2025 order of the Registrar of Trade Marks that had rejected its opposition to the mark “naukriyan” and permitted its registration in favour of Pradeep Namdeo.

In its pleadings, the company contended that it was the prior adopter of the “NAUKRI” mark and had been using it along with associated domain names such as www.naukri.com since 1997.

It also pointed out that the Delhi High Court had earlier recognised “NAUKRI/NAUKRI.COM” as an inherently distinctive and well-known trademark. Info Edge further referred to several prior injunctions granted by courts restraining the use of similar marks, including “NAUKRIE.COM”, “NAUKRINEWS.COM”, “CVNAUKRI.COM”, “nownaukri.com”, and “Noukri.com.”

Counsel appearing for the Registrar of Trade Marks defended the impugned order, arguing that the rival marks were visually and phonetically distinct. It was contended that Namdeo's mark was a stylised label with distinctive typographic elements, a dark blue colour scheme on a white background, and the tagline “Changing million lives,” which distinguished it from Info Edge's mark.

Rejecting this reasoning, the court held that the dominant element in both marks remained the word “naukri”. Referring to the principles governing comparison of composite marks, the court observed: “it is clear that the word 'NAUKRI' is in fact an essential and dominant part of the rival marks, and thus, the rule of antidissection may not apply to the facts of the present case.”

The court also noted that Namdeo had himself admitted in his counter-statement and evidence before the Registrar that the mark “naukriyan” was the plural form of the Hindi word “naukri”, meaning job. This admission, the court observed, indicated that the rival mark conveyed the same meaning as Info Edge's trademark and that the adoption did not appear to be bona fide.

“Undoubtedly, the word 'NAUKRI' is a Hindi word for 'job' in English, while 'naukriyan' is a plural for the Hindi word 'NAUKRI' and would connote 'jobs' in English, which by itself cannot be said to be such an essential distinctive feature so as to not create confusion or deception in the mind of the general public. Thus, the mark 'naukriyan' is deceptively similar and most likely to confuse the general public.,” the court said.

Allowing the appeal, the court quashed the Registrar's order as well as the registration certificate issued to Namdeo and directed the Registrar to remove the impugned trademark from the register within four weeks.