Ruling in Mr Arun Jaitley v Network Solutions Private Limited & Ors, Delhi High Court held that domain names are protected under the law of passing off and personal names used in this manner are granted similar protection. The court held that the right to use a personal name as a trademark or domain name vests with the person whose name it is.
Acting on a petition filed in 2009 by Arun Jaitley, a prominent senior advocate and politician, the court permanently restrained a Los Angeles-based company, Portfolio Brains, from using, promoting, advertising and retaining the domain name www.arunjaitley.com.
Portfolio Brains was ordered to pay punitive damages of ₹500,000 (US$11,000) to Jaitley “for causing hardship, harassment and mental torture to him in getting back the domain name” and to immediately transfer the domain name to him.
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The update of court judgments is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.
