Balance Of Convenience Lies In Its Favour: Delhi HC Restrains RUMMYTU From Using RUMMYCIRCLE Trademark
The Delhi High Court has restrained RUMMYTU from using trademark of RUMMYCIRCLE, amounting to infringement of rights of PLAY GAMES24X7 Private Limited.
The Court was deciding a Suit filed by Play Games 24x7 Private Limited, a parent company of RummyCircle, seeking permanent and mandatory injunction by restraining infringement of copyright and trademark, passing off, fraud, misrepresentation, unfair competition, rendition of accounts and damages, etc.
A Single Bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna said, “In view of the above circumstances, the plaintiff has demonstrated a prima facie case for grant of injunction and in case no ex-parte ad-interim injunction is granted, the plaintiff will suffer an irreparable loss. Further, the balance of convenience also lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants.”
Advocate Mamta Rani Jha represented the Plaintiff while Advocate Nikita Rathi represented the Defendants.
Factual Background -
As per the Suit filed, the Plaintiff approached the High Court against the Defendants on account of blatant, deliberate infringement of its well-known registered trade mark RUMMYCIRCLE, copyright in the websites, literature, content, logo, promotional materials, passing off the Plaintiff’s goodwill and reputation and image rights of its brand ambassadors and celebrity endorsers. Around November 2024, the Plaintiff found the Infringing Rogue Domains/Websites/Webpages, wherein, the flagrant infringement was that some of the Defendants were unlawfully using the names of the Plaintiff Company’s founders to lend a false air of legitimacy to their illegal conduct.
It was submitted that the Defendants were employing the “Bait & Switch” method to redirect unsuspecting users to their websites which offer betting/ gambling/ speculative games, which are unlawful in India. These websites provide a variety of gambling and betting games such as 777, Teen Patti, Fortune Gems, Jackpot Land, Slots, amongst many others. All these games are illegal and in complete contravention of the applicable laws. Further, some of the Defendants were exactly replicating the Plaintiff’s trademark as part of their domain names. Hence, the Plaintiff sought reliefs before the High Court.
The High Court in the above regard, observed, “Learned counsel appearing for defendant no.16 further submits that the effect of locking a website is that the party concerned is prevented from transfer of the said website/ domain name to any third party.”
Till the next date of hearing, the Court issued the following directions –
i. Defendants, their directors, assignees in business, licensees, franchisees and any persons claiming right through/for them, are restrained from using RUMMYCIRCLE/ or any other identical/ similar trademark / domain name/ logo, either as trademark/ trade name/ logo or as part of domain name, social media posts, creatives, in electronic or physical media or in any manner whatsoever, amounting to infringement of plaintiff’s registered trademark; amounting to passing off the plaintiff’s goodwill and reputation in its trade mark and/or the trade name/service and amounting to infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright therein.
ii. Defendants, their directors, assignees in business, licensees, franchisees and any persons claiming right through/for them, are restrained from using the names of the plaintiff’s founders on their websites, social media platforms, posts, in electronic or physical media or in any manner whatsoever.
iii. Defendant nos. 15 to 20, their directors, assignees in business, licensees, franchisees and any persons claiming right through/ for them, are directed to lock or suspend the infringing websites/ domain name/ webpage being defendant nos. 1 to 14, as available on their respective platforms.
iv. Defendant no.16 is directed to lock and suspend the entire domain of defendant no.13, i.e., //fylingeagal.online/.
v. Defendant nos. 15 to 20 are directed to disclose the Basic Subscriber Information and account registration details of defendant nos. 1 to 14, as may be available which may contain the trademark RUMMYCIRCLE/ or any mark deceptively similar thereto.
vi. Defendant nos. 21 and 22 are directed to block the infringing website/ domain name/ webpage of defendant nos. 1 to 14, as given in the Memo of Parties, which is attached as Annexure-A, to the present order.
The Court further directed that the Order passed shall also be applicable to John Doe Defendant No. 23. It also granted liberty to the Plaintiff to file an Affidavit as and when any other website/domain name/webpage is discovered.
Accordingly, the High Court passed an Injunction Order, restrained the Defendants, and listed the case on May 6, 2025.
Cause Title- Play Games24x7 Private Limited v. Https Rummytu In & Ors.
Appearance:
Plaintiff: Advocates Mamta Rani Jha, Rohan Ahuja, Shruttima Ehersa, and Diya Viswanath.
Defendants: Advocates Nikita Rathi, Mrinal Ojha, Debarshi Dutta, Rishabh Agarwal, and Arjun Mookerjee.
