Delhi High Court grants relief to Dream11 in trademark case

Court Steps in to halt American Dream11.

The Delhi High Court has made a major step by offering an interim injunction in support of the trademark infringement case of the fantasy sports giant Dream11. The court approved a restraining order that was filed against a party that was operating using the name American Dream11. This was done in accordance with the law to ensure that the competing company does not utilize the popular brand name of Dream11, and mislead Indian users.

Justice Tejas Karia heard the case and admitted that the complaint concerned was serious. The company Sporta Technologies, which owns Dream11, claimed that American Dream11 was intentionally attempting to mislead its mass audience. The order of the court practically prevents the defendants in India to use the name or another similar mark.

This decision is a significant success of Dream11 in its current endeavors to defend its brand name. The fast intervention of the court will prevent the defendants to act on the Indian market or attack the Indian customers. The lawyer of the defendants told the court that they would obey the instructions and ceased their operations in the country.

The defendants were also ordered by the court to remove all the social media pages and profiles at once. This applies to content on Facebook, X (which used to be Twitter), and Instagram that consisted of an infringing ‘Dream11’ mark. This content was a definite effort of the judge to ride on the reputation of the existing Indian platform.

A Willful and Toddlerly Attempt to Deceive Visitors.

The legal team of Dream11 provided the court with solid facts as the actions of the defendants were not a coincidence. They alleged that the American Dream11 was making a fake story to defraud the Indian users. The essence of this fraud was to deceive the users that it was an American site where they could evade Indian laws.

This became one of the major problems when India enacted new laws that would govern online games. Dream11, being a company that abides by these laws, was forced to alter its model. The attorneys stated that American Dream11 was attempting to take advantage of this case by making false information known that it provided a means through which the users could still play pay to play fantasy games.

The court was presented with evidence of the way in which the competing platform was specifically targeting audiences in India. This involved advertising and talk about on social media in Hindi, and this was done directly to appeal to the customers of Dream11. This was one of the pieces of evidence that negated the assertions by the defendants.

It was pointed out in the arguments that this was an intentional move to redirect traffic and users. According to the counsel submitted by Dream11, there was an attempt on the part of the defendants to influence a false impression of a relationship or a loophole. According to them, this was inflicting permanent damage to the brand of Dream11 and its relationship with users.

More Than Just a Similar Name

It was not only over the name in the trademark issue. Dream11 presented the facts that the whole appearance and sense of American Dream11 were copied by its platform. This involved the copying of the user interface, the logo positioning and the particular color schemes associated with the Dream11 brand by the users.

This copying in close form and imitation was brought out as an excellent evidence of the bad faith of the defendant. This was to ensure that the users felt that they are on an authentic Dream11-affiliated site. This was similar to induce a user to relax into believing that they can place their information and interest in the new platform.

Another important fact regarding the working of the defendants was also heard in the court. Although the platform known as the American Dream11 was boasting of being active only in the United States and Canada, its owners had recently incorporated a business in India. This new company was to be called American Dream 11 Fantasy Sports Private Limited and it was a direct blow to their statements that they were not targeting the Indian market.

The finding showed a definite plan to start a business in India going by the controversial name. It was demonstrated that there was a premeditated act of encroaching the trademark, which was highly considered by the court. Even the argument by the defendants that they did not target India had been established to be false as per their own corporate filings.

The Court’s Decisive Relief

Justice Karia made a powerful ruling in favour of Dream11 after listening to the case. The defendants were one to fully discontinue the use of name American Dream11 or an alteration of the name Dream11 in India. This injunction includes their trade name, domain name and any other usage.

One of the major components of the relief was the fact that the defendants agreed to geo-block their site. This implies that they have to take technical precautions to make sure that it is not possible to use their platform by the Indians. This was an essential move to prevent the damage being inflicted on the business of Dream11 that it was causing at the moment.

The fact that the court ordered to take down all social media content entirely was also important. The judge observed that it is possible to geo-block a site, but social media accounts are accessible anywhere in the world. Consequently, such pages had to be eliminated completely to prevent the transmission of misleading information to the consumers in India.