The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order restraining over 30 parties from unauthorised use of the intellectual property associated with the 1994 Hindi film Andaz Apna Apna, including its characters, title, dialogues and artistic works..Justice Amit Bansal granted an ex parte interim injunction in a suit filed by Vinay Pictures, through Shanti Vinaykumar Sinha, the legal heir of the film’s producer Vinay Sinha. The plaintiff sought relief against alleged infringement of copyright and trademark rights through merchandise, digital content, domain names and AI-generated material.“The plaintiff has demonstrated a prima facie case…[and] will suffer irreparable loss if relief is not granted," the Court held..The plaintiff contended that Andaz Apna Apna, produced by late Vinay Sinha, continues to enjoy enduring popularity and cultural relevance. The plaintiff claimed exclusive ownership over the film’s title, literary and dramatic works, and characters such as:Crime Master Gogo, known for the line “Aankhen nikaal ke gotiyan khelta hoon main!”Teja and the mistaken identity subplot “Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai”Ram Gopal Bajaj and Shyam Gopal Bajaj, the identical twins portrayed by Paresh RawalLead characters Amar and Prem, played by Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, respectively.The plaintiff also cited registered trademarks over phrases like “Aila” and “Ouima”, which it claimed had acquired secondary meaning in the minds of the public..It was submitted that unauthorised parties were commercialising these elements through:Sale of T-shirts, mugs, posters, notebooks, etcAI-generated digital content and video clipsDomain names such as www.ailaouima.comSocial media content and online stores.The infringing products were being sold across major e-commerce platforms including Flipkart, Meesho, Etsy, Desertcart and others. The plaintiff submitted a list of over 70 infringing URLs, spread across platforms and domains..The Court held that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the plaintiff, noting that unauthorised products may mislead the public into believing they were officially licensed.“Any objections to the quality of the defendants’ products will be attributable to the plaintiff, as the public would have purchased such goods under the mistaken impression that they emanate from the plaintiff,” the Court recorded..After reviewing the plaintiff’s documents and over 70 infringing URLs, the Court issued a series of interim directions, including:Restraining various defendants from:“...creating any content, including images, videos, audio-visual content, or AI-generated content which is identical to, adapted from, or derivative of the plaintiff’s film Andaz Apna Apna.”Restraining sale and promotion of goods bearing marks deceptively similar to the film’s registered trademarks and character names such as Teja, Crime Master Gogo, Amar and Prem.Directing Google LLC (Defendant 26) to “...take down, remove, and disable the infringing videos, shorts, or other content uploaded by defendants no. 19 to 21…” Google was also asked to disclose details of the uploaders of identified YouTube Shorts.Directing Flipkart , Etsy , Meesho , and Desertcart ) to:Remove infringing listingsDisclose identity and payment details of sellersDirecting GoDaddy (D25) to share registration information of the domain www.ailaouima.comDirecting MeitY to “...block and disable all infringing links, websites, and social media channels as identified by the plaintiff.”The Court also clarified that the injunction would extend to mirror/redirect URLs and gave the plaintiff liberty to implead additional infringers..Vinay Films was represented by Advocates Pravin Anand, Ameet Naik, Vaishali Mittal, Madhu Gadodia, Siddhant Chamola, Prachi Sharma, Shivang Sharma, Saijal Arora, Sujoy Mukherjee and Devushal Tudekar from Anand & Naik..Google was represented by Advocates Mamta Jha, Rohan Ahuja, Shruttima Ehensa, Aiswarya Debadarshini and Rahul Choudhary from Inttl Advocare..[Read Order]