The owner of the fantasy sports software "Dream11" filed a lawsuit, and the Delhi High Court has decreed in that action, noting that the contending defendants had a "clear and transparent intent" to duplicate the plaintiffs.
In light of the resemblances between the rival marks, their use for identical services, and the possibility of consumer misunderstanding, Justice C. Hari Shankar determined that a case of infringement under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, Section 29(2)(b).
The court concluded that "the defendants are consciously seeking to confuse persons into accessing the defendant's website instead of the plaintiff," noting further that the contending defendants had similarly duplicated the plaintiffs' mark and adopted the look and feel of their website.
The court concluded that "the defendants are consciously seeking to confuse persons into accessing the defendant's website instead of the plaintiff," noting further that the contending defendants had similarly duplicated the plaintiffs' mark and adopted the look and feel of their website.
Consequently, it was likewise decided that a case of passing off had been established.
Judge Shankar underlined that there was "every likelihood of confusion" between the competing marks because both were applied in the context of fantasy games, using the standard established in Re: Pianist Application.
At first, the plaintiffs, who are registered owners of the "dream11" trademarks and the owners of the domain "www.dream11.com," initiated the lawsuit to protest the defendants' use of the phonetically identical mark "dreamz11."
The plaintiffs claimed that the opposing defendants were blatantly duplicating them to provide the same services (fantasy sports) based on comparing the parties' domain names, websites, and Facebook pages. According to reports, defendant No. 1 was discovered to have been using pictures of cricket players from the plaintiffs' group, including Rishbh Pant, Rohit Sharma, and Hardik Pandya, on its website.
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