Misuse
of Trademark on Websites
Since the advent of
online shopping in India, instances of alleged misuse of trademarks on or by
E-commerce portals have been often cited and the recent news of the Saree
pioneer Nalli Silk Saree (hereinafter referred to as Nalli Sarees) initiating
legal action against snapdeal.com for trademark infringement has been making
rounds.
Nalli Silk Sarees was
established in 1928 and since then has been selling silk sarees, suits and
other fashion accessories under the brand name NALLI. Nalli sarees has outlets in some of the major cities of
India like Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Nalli
Sarees apart from having physical outlets also sells its products online
exclusively through its website www.nalli.com.
On the other hand, Snapdeal is a well- known Indian online market place which
sells and markets wide range of products all over the country through the
website www.snapdeal.com.
Recently, Indian Daily, Economic Times has reported that Nalli sarees
has issued a cease and desist notice against Snapdeal for allegedly using its
trademark NALLI as a search word and also copying images from Nalli’s website and
using those images for advertising their sale offer on silk sarees on www.snapdeal.com.
Nalli Sarees has
further alleged that Snapdeal has deliberately indulged in such an activity
with the motive to unjustly enrich itself by deceiving the public and making
the public assume that the original "Nalli" silk sarees were
available on Snapdeal’s website.
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