Burger King established in the year 1957, is an American multinational chain of hamburger fast food giant. Burger King owns all the rights extensively in relation to the use of the mark “BURGER KING” in conjunction with its distinctive logo which has evolved over the years. Burger King also owns 1040 domain names registered in its name.
In, 2014 Burger King entered the Indian markets and ever since has over 250 restaurants across India.
Source – Judgement
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Cause of action arose when Burger King came to know about the existence of the websites namely,
www.burgerkingfranchises.in &
www.burgerkingfranchises.co.in and the fact that Mr. Swapnil Patil & others (infringers) were duping unsuspecting general public into believing that they were representatives of Burger King India Limited (which was the former name of the Burger King’s Indian Franchisee).
Hence, Burger King approached Delhi High Court to restrain the infringers from infringing their well-known and registered mark “Burger King”, misrepresentation and brand tarnishment.
Burger King submitted that the infringers were engaged in registering misleading domain names incorporating the "BURGER KING" marks and operating fake websites, thereupon and invited the general public to apply for franchises. It was further submitted that the infringers had also approached the general public as employees of the Burger King’s Indian Franchisee and, moreover fraudulently duped people of thousands of rupees by claiming to offer them Burger King Franchises in the form of cafés, lounges as well as restaurants. Burger King also claimed violation of its registered marks - "BURGER KING", BK and the Crescent Design Logo, as well as photographs of Burger King's international restaurants, in order to lure potential victims.
Burger King contended that that the infringers operated in an extremely clandestine manner and had not provided their accurate contact details on their website. In fact, the address provided on the website was that of Burger King India Limited itself, which was clear misleading of consumers into believing an association or that such activity was authorized by Burger King. Burger King claimed that such illegal acts not only harmed its goodwill and reputation but also jeopardized public interest. Hence, the Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction in favour of Burger King and restrained the infringers accordingly. The Court also ordered the domain name registrar to provide the contact details of the infringers, as well as restrict and block the access to those websites.
