Delhi High Court issues directions to halt operation of fake "Burger King" websites

The Delhi High Court recently issued directions to stop fraudulent websites mimicking the Burger King name from duping those seeking to secure franchise licences to operate a branch of the fast food chain. [Burger King Corporation versus Swapnil Patil & Ors].To this end, the Court has directed the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to not permit any website registrations with ‘Burger king’ with domain extensions like ‘.co.in’ or ‘.in’. ."DoT and MeitY shall issue blocking orders qua the above domain names/websites with immediate effect. The same shall be given effect to by all ISPs," the Court added..Justice Prathiba M Singh said there was a need to take “stringent action” against misuse of the domain names, while hearing a suit filed by the Burger King Corporation against fake franchises, and for the protection of its marks like ‘Burger King’.“NIXI is also directed not to permit any domain name/website to be opened under the ‘.co.in’ or ‘.in’ extensions consisting of the mark `Burgerking’, where the words ‘BURGER’ and ‘KING’ appear together,” the Court's order stated. .The Court further ordered the Delhi Police to investigate the matter as it noted that the fake websites were being used to fraudulently collect money under the name of Burger King by misusing its brand and marks.The High Court had earlier passed an interim injunction order against certain fake websites using ‘Burger King’ mark in an unauthorised manner. Justice Singh extended the interim injunction order to cover two more domain names and ordered their immediate suspension..The Court was informed that an unsuspecting consumer, who wanted to obtain a Burger King franchise paid ₹ 2,65,000 to a bank account belonging to one such fake website. Justice Singh said there was an urgent need to stop any further amounts being received in the fraudulent bank accounts and ordered the Bank of Maharashtra to freeze the account. It also directed the bank to investigate how a bank account in name of ‘Burger King India Pvt Ltd’ was permitted to be opened without verifying the credentials.“Bank of Maharashtra is directed to disclose the identity of the account holder, KYC details and any other documents, which it may have,” the Court added. Further, GoDaddy.com was ordered to immediately block a fraudulent website operating under the name, www.burgerkingind.co.in. Advocates Mukul Kochhar and Raunaq Kamath represented the plaintiff, the Burger King Corporation.Additional Standing Counsel Hetu Arora Sethi represented the Delhi Police Cyber Cell.Advocates Shweta Sahu and Brijesh Ujjainwal represented GoDaddy.com..[Read Order]