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The Delhi High Court has reportedly granted an interim order against e-commerce platform Flipkart, stating that allowing a third-party seller to 'latch on' to trademark amounts to taking unfair advantage. According to a report by Live Law, the Delhi High Court has held that permitting a third-party seller to 'latch on' to a best-seller's name or trademark is nothing but 'riding piggyback'.
As per the Live Law report, Justice Pratibha M Singh stated that, "it amounts to taking unfair advantage of the goodwill that resides in the Plaintiff's mark and business. In the context of e-commerce, this Court has no doubt that 'latching on' by unauthorised sellers results in and constitutes 'passing off' as known in the brick and mortar world. It is a mode of encashing upon the reputation of the Plaintiff which he has painstakingly built."
Additionally, the Live Law report highlighted that after passing an interim injunction against Flipkart, the Delhi High Court restrained the e-commerce platform from allowing any third party sellers from 'latching on' to the trademark 'V Tradition' or its product listings, so as to ensure that third party unauthorised sellers are unable to misuse. The report further stated that the “suit was filed by Akash Aggarwal, the sole proprietor of an entity operating under the trademark 'V Tradition', which was engaged in the business of sale of clothing for women on various retail e-commerce platforms including the defendant Flipkart."
Meanwhile, in another development, the Delhi High Court on Friday directed Delhi Police and other authorities to strictly implement the prohibition of any kind of Chinese samjha, synthetic manjha used in kite flying following the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Judgement in this regards, as per news agency ANI report. Interestingly, Delhi High Court refused to pass any direction to ban kite flying while hearing public interest litigation, which sought a total ban of kite flying, the report said. Appearing for Delhi Police, GNCTD counsel said the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) are actively dealing with the issue and also have issued a memorandum from time to time in this regard, the report added.
(With inputs from Live Law, ANI)