The Delhi High Court recently had occasion to pass a John Doe order against retail/wholesale shops for selling Amway products without due authorisation..Notably, the High Court allowed the plea for a John Doe order, even though the matter was not an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringement suit..John Doe orders are blanket cease and desist injunctions that are issued against anonymous entities. They are usually issued in suits involving an infringement of IPR, since it is often practically impossible to track down every infringing party..The suit brought by Amway India Enterprises Pvt Ltd (‘Amway’) was against medical shops in Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk for selling Amway products without its written permission. It was contended that such sale was being carried out in violation of the Central government’s Direct Selling Guidelines, 2016..An investigation conducted last May revealed that Amway products were being illegally sold by these shops after removing unique codes placed on the lid of the products. Moreover, they were being sold without issuing invoices or providing the benefit of Amway’s Return/Refund Policy..While this was the case, Amway informed the Court that it was not aware of the names and particulars of all shops/stores selling Amway Products illegally in Bhagirath Palace. The errant sellers would not explain from where the Amway products were sourced..In these circumstances, Justice Yogesh Khanna allowed Amway’s plea for a John Doe order, directing as follows,.“… the defendants as well as unidentified persons are restrained at Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk, Delhi under John Doe order and their vendors, sellers, agents, servants, representatives and employees or any one claiming under them, directly or indirectly, from in any manner selling / purchasing / distributing the Plaintiffs ‘Amway products’ unauthorizedly and illegally through any wholesale/retail shops till the next date of hearing.”.Four Advocates were also appointed as local commissioners to conduct inspections in Bhagirath Palace and find out more about the errant sellers..More recently, Amway was also granted another injunction order for a similar suit brought against the e-commerce platform 1MG Technologies Private Limited (‘1MG’). 1MG operates through a website as well as a mobile application..As was the case with the medical shops at Bhagirath Palace, Amway told the Court that the products procured from 1MG platforms were also missing the unique codes usually imprinted on the lids. In this case as well, the source of the products was unknown..Therefore, Justice Pratibha M Singh issued an injunction order restraining 1MG from selling Amway products until the next hearing. The Court held,.“… the Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case. Balance of convenience is in favour of the Plaintiff. Irreparable injury would be cased to the end consumers, as all these products are in the nature of nutrition and healthcare/wellness products, the quality of which is paramount. .Accordingly, till the next date, it is directed that the Defendants shall not offer for sale any products from the Amway range of products either through the website of through the mobile app. .If the same are genuine products, the Defendant is permitted to approach the Plaintiff to establish the same, and if the Defendant is able to obtain written approval from the Plaintiff, then they may be permitted to sell the said products.”.Local Commissioners were also appointed to inspect the premises and servers of the defendants’ company..Amway India was represented by Senior Advocate Sudhir Chandra Agarwala and Founding Partner at SS Rana & Co., Sohan Singh Rana, along with Priya Adlakha, Tulip De and Ashish Sharma..Read the John Doe order passed against outlets at Bhagirath Palace:.Read injunction order against 1MG Technologies:
