Bombay High Court Restrains Company From Using Reliance Industries-Owned 'Jio' Trademark For Taxi Services Being Offered Under Domain Name

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has, in an interim order, restrained a company from using Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)-owned 'Jio' trademark for taxi services being offered under the domain name www.jiocabs.com.A bench of Justices Somasekhar Sundaresan, on Tuesday, granted the interim protection, observing that RIL had established a strong prima facie case and that continued use of the well-known digital and mobile services brand by unauthorised parties could cause serious harm to its goodwill.

The usage of a well-known and protected brand name would indeed cause grave injury (to its owner), the court noted.The order was passed on a plea filed by RIL claiming it was the registered proprietor of the 'Jio' mark.The energy-to-telecom conglomerate contended that the use of the mark 'Jiocabs' and the associated domain name amounted to trademark infringement and passing off.

The bench noted that pursuant to a legal notice from RIL, the defendant firm shifted to a new name, but the domain name www.jiocabs.com was still active.Hence, the interim order by way of injunction was justified, the court said, restraining the defendant from using the 'Jio' trademark, the impugned domain name, or any logos, labels, or artwork identical or deceptively similar to Reliance's trademarks or copyrighted material. 

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