The Delhi High Court recently passed a John Doe order suspending the operation of a website allegedly selling replicas of dresses designed by popular fashion designer Rahul Mishra and his company [Rahul Mishra Vs John Doe]..Justice Amit Bansal also restrained the unidentified defendant, who is operating the portal 'www.rahudress.com’, from using the trademark 'Rahul Mishra' or anything deceptively similar to it."The defendant no.2 DNR shall immediately lock and suspend the domain name ‘ www.rahudress.com’ and maintain the status quo thereof. The defendant no.2 shall also disclose to the plaintiffs, complete details (such as: Name, Address, Email Address, Phone Number, IP Address etc.) of the defendant no.1 as available with it," the Court ordered. John Doe orders are blanket cease and desist injunctions that are issued against anonymous entities. They are usually passed in suits involving infringement of intellectual property rights since it is often practically impossible to track down every infringing party..The Court opined that Mishra was able to make out a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte ad-interim injunction."The balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants. Irreparable injury shall be caused to the plaintiffs if the interim injunction is not granted," it added in the order passed on December 24..The interim order was passed in a suit filed by Mishra against the unidentified defendant. The Court was told that particulars of the entity operating the website 'www.rahudress.com' were not known.The suit sought permanent injunction against the website for selling counterfeit dresses. It was alleged that Mishra's original designs, including intricate embroideries, unique silhouettes and overall aesthetic were copied by the website.The designs are protected by copyright law and such actions constitute a clear violation of Mishra's intellectual property rights, it was contended."Such acts of the defendant no.1 constitute trademark infringement, copyright infringement, design piracy, passing off, unfair competition and leads to dilution of the goodwill and thus, is a clear attempt to ride upon the goodwill of the plaintiffs," the Senior Counsel representing Mishra submitted..The Court will next hear the matter next in April 2025..Senior Advocate J Sai Deepak and advocates Meenakshi Ogra, Tarun Khurana, Samrat S Kang, Amarjeet Kumar, Rishi Vohra, Rajat Sabu and Chhavi Pande represented Rahul Mishra. .[Read Order]
