The Delhi High Court has issued a John Doe order in favor of Games24x7, the parent company of RummyCircle, in a case of blatant trademark and copyright infringement. This ruling addresses the misuse of the company’s brand identity, the intellectual property rights of RummyCircle, and the image rights of celebrity endorsers and founders.
The court’s decision comes in response to the unlawful activities carried out by certain websites and domains that sought to exploit RummyCircle’s reputation and brand by creating exact replicas of the RummyCircle website, including its design and content, to mislead users; using bait-and-switch tactics to redirect users from dummy webpages of RummyCircle to unauthorized and illegal gambling and betting platforms; and exploiting the RummyCircle trademark to promote unrelated or unlawful betting platforms.
Games24x7 had filed a suit in Delhi High Court for restraining infringement of copyright, trademark, misrepresentation, and image rights of celebrity endorsers of RummyCircle and unlawfully using the names of the company’s founders against certain websites, which are categorized as follows: 1. The bait & switch category comprises websites that initially displayed an infringing dummy webpage of RummyCircle to lure in users and subsequently redirect them to an unlawful website offering betting and casino games; 2. The infringing domains/webpages/websites were unlawfully using the trademark of RummyCircle to either promote their own rummy platform or a gambling platform offering unlawful betting games; and 3. The infringing exact replica websites had copied the entirety of the RummyCircle website, including its look and feel, textual description, testimonials, etc, to create a false association with the RummyCircle and mislead unsuspecting users.This ruling marks a significant step in upholding intellectual property rights and curbing unlawful practices that mislead users and tarnish the reputation of legal online gaming platforms.
By addressing such infringements decisively, the Order reinforces the need for accountability in the digital space and contributes to the ongoing efforts to combat the proliferation of illegal and offshore online betting platforms.
