ANALOGY BETWEEN TRADEMARK AND DOMAIN NAME : INFO

EDGE PVT. LTD. V/S SHAILESH GUPTA AND Ors.

(Project Report)

Submitted to
Mrs. Debmita Mondal
(Faculty, HNLU)

Submitted by
Raman Choubey
(Sem VII; Optional; Roll No. 125)
Date 5th October, 2017

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, CHHATTISGARH

Post Uparwara, Naya Raipur (C.G.)

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 1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks to the Almighty who gave me the strength to accomplish the project with sheer hard work
and honesty. This research venture has been made possible due to the generous cooperation of
various persons. To list them all is not practicable, even to repay them with words is beyond the
domain of my lexicon. This project wouldnt have been possible without the help of my teacher
Ms. Debmita Mondal, Faculty Member, HNLU, Raipur, who had always been there at my side
whenever I needed some help regarding any information. She has been my mentor in the truest
sense of the term. The administration has also been kind enough to let me use their facilities for
research work, I thank them for this.

RAMAN CHOUBEY
ROLL NO 125
SEM VII

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... 2

2. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 4

OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................... 6

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 6

3. INTRODUCTION TO TRADEMARK AND DOMAIN NAME ...................................... 7

1.1 TRADEMARK .................................................................................................................... 7

4. CONFLICTS BETWEEN TRADEMARK AND DOMAIN NAME .............................. 12

5. CASE ANALYSIS : INFO EDGE PVT LTD V/S SHAILESH GUPPTA & ORS ........ 15

6. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 18

7. REFRENCES ....................................................................................................................... 19

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 2. INTRODUCTION

The invention of computer is one of the cherished gifts of science and technology. Wide spread use of
computer led to the further development in the field of communication through the media of Internet. The
early days of 1990s saw the use of Internet mainly for e-mails and gathering information. But now with the
emergence of electronic commerce (e-commerce) there is a rapid growth in the commercial activities taking
place via Internet.1 Today, Internet facilitates us in all walks of our life. From e-mails to e-governance from
online banking to online dispute resolution system, the Internet has been a platform for progress. While the
merits of Internet usage are undisputable, it is not free from the demerits. Internet has always been found
as major problem creator for law.2 Cyberspace has been prone to a number of misuses because of its inherent
nature of being without any boundary. It has paved way for different types of crimes and complex
conflicting situations in the virtual world.3 Thus, the various aspects of Internet have posed challenge not
only to the business entities and public in general but also to law makers and judges. One such challenging
issue which needs immediate attention is the domain name-trademarks conflicts.

DOMAIN NAME

The Internet is a novel and unique medium for human communication worldwide, and domain names are
the sine qua non phenomenon of cyberspace. It is an offshoot of the modern-day e-commerce. The Internet
is a network of networks of computers. Every computer connected to this network is given a unique
electronic address, which is called Internet Protocol (IP) address. Each identifiable location in cyberspace
has its own distinctive IP address. The IP addresses are numerical in nature as they are expressed by a
lengthy sequence of digits.7 For ex: 0110.11.01.00. Since IP addresses are numerical in nature, they are not
catchy and hence not easy to remember ultimately resulting in mistakes being made in typing an intended
IP address. As the popularity of the Internet increased so too the difficulty to remember these numerical
addresses became obvious.4 Thus, for the purpose of convenience, a word / alphabet based system called
as Domain Name System (DNS) was introduced.5 In simple, a domain name is the word / alphabet based
substitute to the numeric IP addresses. These alternates to the string of numbers are human comprehensible

1 Catherine Colston and Kirsty Middleton, Modern Intellectual Property Law, Second edition, (London: Cavendish
Publishing Ltd, 2005) p. 615.
2 Domain Names and Trademarks: An Understanding of the Conflict.
3 Rahul Matthan, The Law Relating to Computers and the Internet, (New Delhi: Butterworths, 2000) p. 372.

4 Parul Kumar, Domain Name Disputes and Cyber Squatting: Can Arbitration Suffice as a Way of Resolution?,
available at <www.students.indlaw.com/display.aspx?4314> Last visited, 04, October 2017.
5 Electronic Commerce: Law and Practice, (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1999) p. 17.

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and memorable in nature. Just like the address of a person in the real world, the domain names are the
addresses of the respective domains in the global computer network.

TRADEMARK

The trademarks are one of the well-recognized types of intellectual property rights. Trademark can be
defined as any word, name, slogan, design, symbol or sign, which distinguishes particular goods or services
of one undertaking from the goods or services of other undertakings.6 Section 2 (zb) of the Indian Trade
Marks Act 199,defines trademark as a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable
of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others and may include shape of goods,
their packaging and combination of colours and includes certification trademark7 and collective mark8.

The major function of trademark is to identify the source of origin of different products or services.9 In
other words, trademark helps the consumers to trace the manufacturer of a product or the provider of a
service required to them. Thus, the trademarks act as silent salesmen through which direct contact is
developed between the consumer and the trademark owner.10 The trademark right includes an exclusive
right to use a particular mark to build goodwill and reputation of an enterprise. This exclusive right prevents
others from misleading consumers by creating a false impression of any kind of association with the
enterprise owning a particular trademark. The nature of trademark is such that its value increases with the
passing of years, consequent to increasing popularity.

6 David Nelmark, Virtual Property: The Challenges of Regulating Intangible, Exclusionary Property Interests Such
as Domain Names, Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, Vol. 3, No. 1, Fall 2004, pp. 1 -
23 at p. 7.
7Certification trademark is a mark capable of distinguishing the goods or services in connection with which it is
used in the course of trade which are certified by the proprietor of the mark in respect of origin, material, mode of
manufacture of goods or performance of services, quality, accuracy or other characteristics from goods or services
not so certified and registrable as such under Chapter IX in respect of those goods or services in the name, as
proprietor of the certification trademark, of that person. (Sec. 2 (e) of the Indian Trade Marks Act).
8 Collective mark is a trademark distinguishing the goods or services of members of an association of persons (not
being a partnership within the meaning of the Indian Partnership Act 1932) which is the proprietor of the mark from
those of others. (Sec. 2 (g) of the Trade Marks Act).
9 Sharon K. Black, Telecommunications Law in the Internet Age, (San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 2002) p. 407
10 T. G. Agitha, Trademark Dilution: Indian Approach, Journal of Indian Law Institute, July - September 2008,
Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 339 - 366 at p. 341.

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 OBJECTIVES

The broad objectives of this research project are:

1. To understand Trademark and Domain Name
2. To identify the conflicts between Domain name and Trademark Protection.
3. To briefly study the case of Info edge v. Shailesh Gupta.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research project has been made following the descriptive-analytical approach. Reliance has
been placed on both primary and secondary sources of data.

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 3. INTRODUCTION TO TRADEMARK AND DOMAIN NAME

When the Internet was in its infancy, domain names (like <harvard.edu>) were created to serve as
useful mnemonic means of locating computers on the Internet. With the globalization and
commercialization of the Internet, domain names have taken on a new significance as business
identifiers, they no longer act only as a means of locating particular computers. They are rapidly
making their way into "real space," cropping up on television commercials, billboards, magazine
ads, and even the sides of buses. As such, they are now coming into conflict with business
identifiers such as trademarks that exist in "real space." Two factors exacerbate this
conflict. First, domain names must be unique - one string of words can link to only one site - while
trademarks may overlap in different industries or different geographical locations. Second, it is
common practice for many Internet users to guess at domain names. Thus domain names based
on intuition become valuable corporate assets.

1.1 Trademark

We have an everyday sense of trademarks that identify companies as the source of goods and
servicessuch as Microsoft, Apple, IBM, and Intel. You know that trademarks also apply to
particular productsfor example, an Excel spreadsheet, an iMac computer, an Electronic Arts
video game, or a Core2 Duo processor. Trademarks for products and services appear on screen
displays, on packaging, in advertising, on Web sites, and in computer manuals. A trademark can
consist of: A name like Microsoft. A slogan like EA Sports Its in the Game! Letters and/or
numbers like AS/400, an IBM computer hardware brand. A design or logo like Apple Inc.s various
apple-shaped logos. A sound like the familiar Yahoo! yodel sound. Trademarks are source identify
ers that carry an emotional charge. They can be conservative and safe, for example, IBMs brand
WebSphere. They are sometimes quirky like Google or hip like Java. They can come in families,
like iTunes, iPod, iLife, iPhoto, iPhone and iMac. Selecting good brands is an art. Many digital
technology products have more than one trademark; for example, Symantec, the Symantec logo
and pc. Anywhere are all trademarks of Symantec Corporation and all are used on pc Anywhere
products. A trademark can also be used to show one companys component in another product.

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An example is the famous Intel Inside logo and sound. Service marks are trademarks that apply
to services. Companies that provide online services such as software-as-a-service vendors use
service marks. So do service Web sites such as online travel services, auction sites, or dating
services. Other digital technology businesses that use service marks include developers, contract
programmers, data recovery services, data and media conversion services, and system integrators.

Company names (also known as trade names) may often be very similar to trademarks, but they
are not the same. For example, Sun Microsystems, Inc. is a company name. The United States
Trademark and Patent Office site has a trademark search function that shows that Sun has more
than 150 trademarks registered in the United States. These trademarks include: Solaris, Sparc,
Java, Sun, and Sun Microsystems. However, Sun Microsystems, Inc. is not claimed as a
trademark. When a company has a main trademark that is used across a line of products or services,
such as Sun, Nokia, or Motorola, it is commonly called a house mark.

1.2 DOMAIN NAME

The original role of a domain name was to provide an address for computers on the Internet. The
Internet has, however, developed from a mere means of communication to a mode of carrying on
commercial activity. With the increase of commercial activity on the Internet, a domain name is
also used as a business identifier. Therefore, the domain name not only serves as an address for
Internet communication but also identifies the specific Internet site.

In the commercial field, each domain name owner provides information/services, which are
associated with such domain name. A domain name is easy to remember and use, and is chosen as
an instrument of commercial enterprise not only because it facilitates the ability of consumers to
navigate the internet to find websites they are looking for, but also at the same time, serves to
identify and distinguish the business itself, or its goods or services, and to specify its corresponding
online internet location. Consequently, a domain name as an address must, of necessity, is peculiar
and unique and where a domain name is used in connection with a business, the value of
maintaining an exclusive identity becomes critical. As more and more commercial enterprises
trade or advertise their presence on the web, domain names have become more and more valuable
and the potential for dispute is high.

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Whereas a large number of trademarks containing the same name can comfortably co-exist
because they are associated with different products, belong to business in different jurisdictions
etc, the distinctive nature of the domain name providing global exclusivity is much sought after.
The fact that many consumers searching for a particular site are likely, in the first place, to try and
guess its domain name has further enhanced this value11. The law does not permit any one to carry
on his business in such a way as would persuade the customers or clients in believing that the
goods or services belonging to someone else are his or are associated therewith. It does not matter
whether the latter person does so fraudulently or otherwise.

The reasons are two. Firstly, honesty and fair play are, and ought to be, the basic policies in the
world of business. Secondly, when a person adopts or intends to adopt a name in connection with
his business or services, which already belongs to someone else, it results in confusion and has
propensity of diverting the customers and clients of someone else to himself and thereby resulting
in injury12.

Thus, a Domain Name requires a strong, constant and instant protection under all the legal systems
of the world, including India. This can be achieved either by adopting harmonization of laws all
over the world or by jealously protecting the same in the municipal spheres by all the countries of
the world.

1.2 Functions of a domain name

A Domain Name is a quite user-friendly form of an Internet Protocol (IP) address; the technical
IP address of this being invisible to the viewers. Addresses to the Internet Web Servers are
assigned and managed through the Domain Name System (DNS), the globally distributed
internet database administered by ICANN. An example of a domain name is "inta.org". The
name portion of a domain name [here, inta] is called as the Second-Level Name, and this
unique and scintillating name is to be created or selected by the domain name applicant. The
end portion of a domain name [here, .org] is termed as the Top-Level Domain (TLD); and is
further classified into the categories of the Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and the

11M/s Satyam Infoway Ltd v M/s Sifynet Solutions Pvt. Ltd, (2004) 6 SCC 145.
12 Lakshmikant v Chetanbhat Shah, JT 2001 (10) SC 285.

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 Country-Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs). Some of the most common and popular
categories of the top-level domains are .com; .org; .gov; .net; .in; etc.

Generally, a domain name performs the same functions online, which a trademark serves in
the offline business dealings and transactions. While the trademark is striking graphic signifier
of your product or company, the domain name is magnificent navigator to your company on
the internet, and the virtual image of your business. Duly registered and protected trademark
and domain name can offer the following main benefits: ---

A trademark or service mark promotes and protects your brand name, while a registered
and protected domain name provides you protection against any unauthorized use of your
domain name by any person or entity.

Trademark supports the face value of your business or profession, while a domain name
increases access value of your business from any remote place of the world over.

A trademark (or service mark) makes your any product (or service) prominent in the
concerned marketplace, while a domain name can also function to deliver your product or
service to your customers worldwide.

Thus, a well-protected domain name is certainly immensely helpful for security, worldwide
prominence, and profitability of a business, quite like an internationally protected trademark
or service mark. Hence, proper registration and protection of both the trademark and domain
name are advisable and imperative.

1.3 Trademark and Domain Name protection

Trademarks or service marks are provided recognition and protection in only those national and
international jurisdictions, where these are properly registered; these may not attain trademark protection
worldwide. The domain names as trademarks or service marks are registered and protected at the entire
global level supremely by only one organization which is ICANN [Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers], along with the national and international protection under the directly concerned
national Trademark Law and diverse International Trademark Treaties of the world. Any national or
international trademark law is not fully capable of protecting a domain name in countries of the world over.
To meet this vital objective, the ICANN with support of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organization) prescribed the following two strong and strict measures --- a rigorous and censorious system

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of registration of domain names with accredited registrars [by ICANN]; and an efficient and efficacious
dispute resolution policy, named as the Uniform Domain Name Disputes Resolution Policy (UDNDR
Policy).

For a dispute resolution under the UDNDR Policy of October 1999, a person or entity may
formally complain before the competent administration-dispute-resolution services providers
[listed by ICANN under Rule 4(a)], that:

1. Any specified domain name is very strikingly or confusingly similar to a previously

registered domain name or trademark of the complainant

2. Any accused domain name has been registered, and is blatantly being used in bad faith

3. There exists any certain case of trademark infringement against the complainant

Today, the domain name registrars duly authorized by the ICANN, operate a dispute resolution
procedure under the UDNDR Policy, for the purposes of providing efficient and rigorous remedy
against bad faith and abusive registration of domain names which violate the trademark rights of
the complainants.

Protection of Domain Names in India

The protection of domain names in India has been deeply felt and approved by the law courts of
the country, like the protection enjoyed by the trademarks or service marks; provided that the
proposed domain name fulfils all requirements to be properly registered under the Indian
trademark law. Any person or business or professional entity may obtain protection to his/her/its
newly created domain name in entire India under the Trade Marks Act of 1999 and the Trade
Marks Rules of 2002, and all amendments made in these so far. For the purpose of worldwide
protection of registered domain names, the concerned people or entity has to follow the above-
mentioned system or procedure. Here, it may be reiterated that a well-protected domain name will
offer to the registrant all those legitimate rights and authorities which are commonly availed by
the owners of registered trademarks or services marks in India. The rights to take rigorous and
drastic actions against any infringement cases connected with the registered and protected domain
name within the Indian jurisdictions, are essentially covered by these rights granted to the
registrant of domain name by any regional Trademarks Office of India.

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 4. CONFLICTS BETWEEN TRADEMARK AND DOMAIN NAME

Due to the well-established link between the domain names and trademarks, every entrepreneur is keen to
get his trademark registered as domain name. For this purpose, huge amount of money and time is invested
by them in the modern era of electronic commerce. The involvement of large sum of money has paved the
way for taking undue advantage by third parties, and resultantly, conflicts over the registration of domain
names. The tremendous increase in the domain name disputes78 currently poses a serious challenge to the
ICANN and national legal systems.

As already pointed out, the most common form of domain name dispute is the conflict between the rights
of domain name holder and the trademark holder. Conflict between the two arises because of several
reasons. Firstly, change in the role of the domain names can be pointed out as a fundamental reason. Though
the original role of domain name is to provide an address for different sites on the Internet, today in the
modern era electronic commerce, it has evolved from being a mere means of communication to some mode
wherein commercial activities take place.13 Thus domain names have become part of corporate and
individual identities over the Internet. This somewhat independent status of domain name often comes in
conflict with trademarks.

Secondly, the trademarks and domain names operate in two different fields and two different levels. While
the trademarks operate in the real world, domain names are confined to virtual world. Added to this,
trademarks are confined to national level / multinational level and domain names are international in nature.
Due to this reason, there can be more than one holder of same trademark but there cant be more than one
holder of same domain name. This difference in the fields and levels of operation has resulted in lot of
conflicts, since at some point of time they overlap with each other in determining the interests of
stakeholders. Consequent to this overlap, one right holder would try to justify his right under one field /
level.

Thirdly, absence of connection between the systems of registration of trademarks and domain names
constitutes a major reason for conflict. While the trademark registrations take place in the national level,
domain name registrations take place in the international level. Since there is no interconnection, while
granting a domain name, the registrar has no obligation to check whether it conflicts with trademark rights.14

13 Satyam Infoway Ltd v. Sifynet Solutions Pvt. Ltd (2004) 6 SCC 145.
14 Lockheed Martin Corp v. Network Solutions Inc. 985 F. Supp. 949 C.D. Cal., 1997.

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Neither he interferes with the number of domain names one intends to register. His right to reject the domain
name registration is confined only to the cases where same domain name already exists.84 Added to this,
unlike trademark registration, there is no requirement of prior notice for domain name registration.85 These
factors always give sufficient scope for registering a trademark of someone as domain name by someone
else. Lastly and more importantly, the principle of first-come first-served employed in domain name
registration has served as the hub of conflict. The first-come first-served makes it mandatory for the
trademark holder to go for the registration of his trademark as domain name at the earliest point of time, so
as to prevent others from registering it. In this competition for registration, there is a possibility of a genuine
right holder losing the domain name to a third party, and thereby resulting in the conflict. The first-come
first served is not only fatal to the trademark owners but also disadvantageous to the online consumers of
product or services, since they might end up in landing to a website that they never intended.

There are four major situations in which domain names come in conflict with trademarks. They are
existence of same trademarks, cybersquatting, registration of domain name similar to well-known
trademark or domain name (typosquatting) and reverse domain name hijacking.

4.1 Cybersquatting

Although the registration of a domain name does not constitute trademark use per se, owning a valid
trademark can preclude the subsequent registration of domain names that include or are similar to your
trademarks.

There are two primary statutes or rules trademark holders can use to enforce their trademark rights against
the subsequent registration of like domain names: (1) the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution
Policy (UDRP); and (2) the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).

Both systems generally have the same requirements. A complainant in a UDRP or ACPA proceeding
generally must establish three elements to succeed:

1. The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the
complainant has rights at the time the disputed domain name is registered;

2. The registrant does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and

3. The registrant registered the domain name and is using it in bad faith.

In regard to bad faith, considerations of whether the domain name was registered in bad faith include, but
are not limited to:

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a. the registrants intent to divert customers from the mark owners online location that could harm the
goodwill represented by the mark, for commercial gain or with the intent to tarnish or disparage the mark;

b. the registrants offer to transfer, sell, or otherwise assign the domain name to the mark owner or a third
party for financial gain, without having used the mark in a legitimate site;

c. the registrants providing misleading false contact information when applying for registration of the
domain name; and

d. the registrants registration or acquisition of multiple domain names that are identical or confusingly
similar to marks of others.

Therefore, domain name owner should protect their domain name through trademark registration.

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 5. CASE ANALYSIS : INFO EDGE PVT LTD V/S SHAILESH GUPPTA
& ORS

CITATION :- 98(2002) DLT 499

BRIEF FACTS :-

Plaintiff adopted the name NAUKRI.COM in 1997 and since then the Plaintiff was carrying on
the business under the aforesaid domain name. In 1999, Defendant registered two domain names
JOBSOURCEINDIA.COM & NAUKARI.COM and was in the identical activity of business as
that of the Plaintiff. The Defendant was also hyper linking the word NAUKARI.COM.

PLAINTIFFS CASE:

Domain name NAUKRI.COM has assumed a distinctiveness as the Plaintiff has chosen a Hindi word
and use the same in the English script as early as in the March, 1997 in the internet world, which is
dominated by the English domain names.

The word NAUKRI has attained a secondary meaning to connote and denote the services offered by the
Plaintiff.

Use by the Defendant of a similar domain name as that of the Plaintiff was dishonest and was done with
bad faith, particularly in view of the fact that the said NAUKRI.COM was merely being used as a
hyperlink i.e. a link to lead any user who types NAUKRI.COM to JOBSOURCEINDIA.COM.

Defendant decided to adopt and use NAUKARI.COM to attract web-surfers & innocent users for
diverting the traffic to the website JOBSOURCEINDIA.COM as any user, who by mistake types
NAUKARI.COM instead of NAUKRI.COM, would automatically reach the website
JOBSOURCEINDIA.COM.

DEFENDANTS CASE:

The mark NAUKRI.COM of the Plaintiff is a generic mark. The Plaintiff has chosen to use the domain
name Naukri.Com, which is descriptive of the business, the Plaintiff carries on i.e. it gives information to
its subscribers about the availability of jobs and employment in various establishments.

Plaintiff cannot claim any protection in respect of trademark NAUKRI.COM as such domain names are
incapable of performing trademark function.

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 Since it is a case of the Plaintiff that the Plaintiffs trade mark has assumed a secondary meaning, the same
is required to be proved by leading evidence as the same is purely a question of fact and could be determined
only after trial is over and evidence is recorded.

COURTS OBSERVATIONS:

A name used to identify an internet service is called a domain name. It is settled law that the domain name
serves the same function as the trademark and is not a mere address.

When a Defendant does business under a name, which is sufficiently close to the name under which the
Plaintiff is trading and that name has acquired a reputation, the public at large is likely to be deceived and
misled that the Defendants business is the business of the Plaintiff or is a branch or Department of the
Plaintiff.

There is definitely peculiarity in the aforesaid domain name of the Plaintiff as the Plaintiff has adopted a
Hindi word with English script. Thus, distinctiveness could be attributed to the said domain name of the
Plaintiff.

The Plaintiff has also placed on record various clippings and write-ups in support of its claim of popularity,
goodwill and reputation.

Defendant registered two domain names, one with the name of JOBSOURCEINDIA.COM and
NAUKARI.COM, somewhere in 1999, by which time the Plaintiff had assumed and achieved in its field
of activity a great reputation.

Defendant through its counsel submits that the word Naukri cannot assume a significance of a
trademark, as the same is generic as it denotes and describes the nature of work and business offered by the
Plaintiff.

If a product of a particular character or composition is marketed in a particular area or place under a

descriptive name and gained a reputation there under, that name which distinguished it from competing
products of different composition, the goodwill in the name of those entitled to make use of it there was
protected against deceptive use there of the name of competitors.

Even assuming that the said word is generic yet if it is found by the court that such a mark has attained
distinctiveness and is associated with the business of the Plaintiff for considerable time and thereafter the
Defendant adopts a similar word as one of his two marks to induce innocent internet users to come to the
website of the Defendant, which establishes dishonest intention and bad faith, would the court still be not
granting injunction to protect the business of the Plaintiff? The answer to the said question has to be an

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emphatic No. User of similar word by a competitor coupled with dishonest intention and bad faith would
empower a court to restrain such user/misuser to do equitable justice to the aggrieved party.

Defendant has employed minor mis-spelling of the Plaintiffs mark, although it has another such mark
available to it. The said action indicates and establishes dishonest intention on the part of the Defendant.
That appears to have been done with bad faith in order to gain advantage of spelling error made by the
internet user while attempting to enter into the Plaintiffs internet address on their web-browser. The very
purpose of having two registered domain names by the Defendant only establishes the dishonest intention
and bad faith on the part of the Defendant.

Verdict -

Injunction was granted in favour of the Plaintiff and the Defendant was restrained from using the
domain name NAUKARI.COM.

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 6. CONCLUSION

The protection of domain name under the Indian legal system is standing on a higher footing as
compared to a simple recognition of right under the UDNDR Policy. The ramification of the
Trademarks Act, 1999 are much wider and capable of conferring the strongest protection to the
domain names in the world. The need of the present time is to harmoniously apply the principles
of the trademark law and the provisions concerning the domain names. It must be noted that the
moment a decision is given by the Supreme Court and it attains finality, then it becomes binding
on all the person or institutions in India. It cannot be challenged by showing any statutory
provision to the contrary. This is so because no statutory provision can override a Constitutional
provision and in case of a conflict, if any, the former must give way to the latter. This settled legal
position becomes relevant when we consider the decision of the Supreme Court in Satyam case
(supra) in the light of the above discussion. The various landmark judgments of the Supreme Court
have conferred the strongest protection to the domain names in the world. The only requirement
to claim the same is that we must appreciate them in their true perspective and apply them in a
purposive and updating manner.

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 7. REFRENCES

http://www.naavi.org/cl_editorial_04/praveen_dalal/pd_domain_name_nov4.htm
http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Trademarks-and-Domain-
Names.pdf
http://www.inta.org/trademarkadministration/Documents/BrandProtectionontheInternetWinte
rfeldt-Final.pdf
https://www.intepat.com/blog/domain/relationship-trademarks-domain-names/
https://www.trademark-lawyers.com.au/trade-mark-vs-website-domain/

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