SUMMARY
Policybazaar alleged that Coverfox and Acko were utilising keywords identical to its trademarks with the aim of diverting traffic away from Policybazaar's website
Justice Navin Chawla said prima facie there was no clear evidence of trademark infringement in the case
The Delhi HC clarified in its order that its views are of a prima facie nature and should not be interpreted as a definitive and binding opinion
The Delhi High Court has dismissed Policybazaar’s plea to prevent other entities from using keywords identical to its trademarks on Google’s AdWords Program.
Justice Navin Chawla, while hearing Policybazaar’s plea against Coverfox Insurance Broking Pvt Ltd and Acko General Insurance Ltd for allegedly using its trademark, said prima facie there was no clear evidence of trademark infringement, news agency PTI reported.
Policybazaar alleged that Coverfox and Acko (defendants) were utilising keywords identical to its trademarks, such as “Policy Bazaar,” “PolicyBazaar,” and “Policy Bazar,” with the aim of diverting traffic away from Policybazaar’s website and causing confusion among users.
The court, in its interim ruling, observed that the case was primarily centered on the claim that the defendants were using Policybazaar’s registered trademarks as keywords in the AdWords Program. However, the mere presence of the defendants’ websites as advertisements or sponsored links was insufficient to establish that an internet user would be misled or confused by them, it said.
The court noted that Policybazaar did not allege any deceptive practices, and, in fact, the search results clearly displayed the defendants’ website as a sponsored link.
The court also said that Policybazaar itself admitted to using the registered trademark of one of the defendants and accepted it as a fair and honest commercial practice.
“They cannot now be heard to be complaining against the same merely because they have now realised that others may be gaining more advantage of their trade marks rather than in the reverse,” the court was quoted as saying.
However, the court clarified in its order that its views were of a prima facie nature and should not be interpreted as a definitive and binding opinion.
The development comes at a time when the courts in the country have been hearing a number of trademark infringement cases. Last mark, the Delhi HC asked Google to crackdown on ads that infringe upon trademarks.
Earlier this year, the tech major, Google LLC, itself got a relief from the HC in a case of misuse of its trademark by Google Enterprises Pvt Ltd. Meanwhile, Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit is also involved in a trademark infringement case filed by Blinkhit.
