An application was filed in the Delhi High Court by one of the gaming companies, Winzo Games Pvt. Ltd., seeking to restrain the Defendants, Google Chrome and several other browsers from displaying any warning against the use of the gaming platform/application ‘WinZO Games’ on the Android Operating System/s.
The Court however, held that Google Chrome and other browsers displaying warnings when viewers/potential users download third-party APK files/applications from their websites is the industry practice and does not amount to infringement. Such disclaimers/ warnings does not constitute ‘use of the trademark in the course of trade’, nor are the Defendants advertising goods/services by using the Plaintiff’s marks in any manner. There is no comparison between the products/services of the Defendants with that of the goods/services of the Plaintiff. Therefore, no case can be made out for infringement under Section 29(8) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
It was further noted by the Court that APK files/applications like that of the Plaintiff’s application are not part of the ‘Google Play’ ecosystem and therefore, the same do not undergo the various security checks and measures by the Defendants. They are required to put in place such warnings in order to guard users against potential threats as per Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices And Procedures And Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011.
Authors: Paramita Nandy Gupta & Ruchi Singh
