9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (1) TMI 1317X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the wake of the statutory rights under Common Law earned by the plaintiff, and they being infringed/violated and compromised by such dubious websites, as there are unknown persons/entities engaged in fraudulent activity of imitating the applicant and it s marks, such defendants and all parties known or unknown, deserve to be restrained from infringing the plaintiff s/applicant s copyright in the label and passing off the marks, as the rights vests in the plaintiff in rem, being the copyright holder thereof. Without a proper licence issued either by the applicant or the ITD, no person is entitled to benefit from it s rights, which exclusively belong to the plaintiff/applicant. On consideration of the necessary information provided in the Interim Application, the plaintiff/applicant deserves an ad-interim ex-parte order even without service, as it is impossible to track all the defendants and effect service upon them, and with the fake websites being continued to be active, it would cause irreparable damage and severe compromise of valuable confidential data of the plaintiff and also pose a threat at a national level. List the Application for further consideration on 20/2/2024. - B ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... half of the ITD since May 2003, for processing of PAN Applications and other PAN related services and the agreement for rendering these services is valid till March 2024. It is the case of the plaintiff that the defendants have deliberately indulged themselves in the acts of infringement of the Plaintiff s copyrights and passing off the Plaintiff s marks by the unauthorized use of the Label and marks of the Plaintiff, in an almost identical/deceptively similar artistic style/manner, as that of the Plaintiff s and the artistic work of the Plaintiff s Label, as if the Defendants are authorized to provide the services which are exclusive to the Plaintiff. In essence, the PAN cards and all other PAN related services offered by any entity other than the Plaintiff and Protean eGov Technologies Limited (earlier known as NSDL eGov), which has not been authorized by these entities, are dubious. According to the plaint, these unauthorized service providers such as the defendants, must be restrained and stopped from misrepresenting itself of being agents authorized by the plaintiff. The ramifications of the continual infringement of the Plaintiff s copyright in the Label and the passing off o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uit and the Interim Application. Considering the national importance of the services provided by the plaintiff, it seeks proactive orders to protect its mark and label to mitigate the substantial and potential monetary loss, which it may suffer along with loss of reputation and goodwill being caused to the plaintiff, through the illegal acts by many presently unknown persons. 6] It cannot be in dispute that the PAN system is of paramount importance on a national scale due to its multifaceted impact on governance, taxation, and financial integrity, and it can be said to be the cornerstone of a robust financial economic system. PAN related services are pivotal in fostering fiscal discipline and ensuring a transparent and accountable economic framework, as apart from being a unique identifier for individuals and entities, it also aim at streamlining the tax recovery and payment process. Government of India has made it mandatory for PAN card holders to link the same to Aadhar Card, which is an acceptable proof of identification in India, and therefore, any potential misuse of the licence/authorisation to issue PAN cards, would be highly detrimental not only to the interest of the plain ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ople from all over India and across the globe. Apart from the said website, the Plaintiff is the owner of several other domain names worldwide and it also provide services from its mobile application, social media (including Facebook, Twitter, etc.), email, video conferencing, chat, etc. 7 In or around December 2023, it came to the knowledge of the plaintiff that the websites listed in the application, were unauthorisedly using it s marks and the Label, and were also posing to be it s authorized service agents for the purpose of providing services relating to the issuance of PAN and related services, which was licensed to it by the ITD under various agreements executed. The plaintiff has noticed that the defendants have committed an egregious fraud, which cannot go unnoticed. 8] The Interim Application has enlisted the details of the identified Domain Names of Defendant nos. 1 to 4, who are passing off the marks and label and providing similar, identical services and it is apprehended that defendants who are known to operate in the respective field are likely to continue to infringe the plaintiff s/applicant s marks and label. According to the plaintiff/applicant, it has an Informa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aluable confidential data of the plaintiff and also pose a threat at a national level. 12] In the wake of the above, the plaintiff is entitled to the following reliefs :- a) that pending the hearing and final disposal of the suit a temporary order and injunction be passed by this Hon'ble Court restraining the Defendants, their proprietors, partners, employees, owners, associates, affiliates, entity and/or any other person claiming through them from infringing the Applicant's exclusive copyright in its Label at Exhibits A and D of the plaint by the use of any label that is identical and/ or that is deceptively similar and/ or substantial reproduction of the Applicant s Labels inter alia including through the offending/infringing copying of the Plaintiff s Label identified at Exhibits G to G-16 to the Plaint; b) that pending the hearing and final disposal of the suit a temporary order and injunction be passed by this Hon'ble Court restraining the Defendants, their proprietors, partners, employees, owners, associates, affiliates, entity and/or any other person claiming through them from passing off its websites and/ or domain and/ or business as and for that of the Applica ..... 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