India court assumes jurisdiction over .com owned by US company

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Jeff

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I am not really sure I understand the results of this one.

The domain in question is Hindustan.com - owned by Brainlink International Inc. in New York.

Hindustan Times Media Limited is an Indian company that runs Hindustan Times and owns HindustanTimes.in and Hindustan.in.

They demanded that Brainlink transfer Hindustan.com to them. Brainlink responded by asking for $3 million for the domain, and also filing a suit in New York for a declaration of non-infringement.

Hindustan Times then responded by filing suit in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court assumed jurisdiction over the matter as that is where Hindustan Times carried on business. This is despite the fact that neither Brainlink nor .com have any connection to India.

The Court agreed with Hindustan Times and ordered Brainlink not to infringe the Hindustan trademark, and not to continue its New York Case.

I am not really sure how enforceable that order will be though.
 
A follow on article this case, going into more detail about anti-suit injunctions -


The Delhi HC noted that as Brainlink’s website was accessible to residents of Delhi, and as HT Media was able to demonstrate a close connection with Brainlink’s activities in India, Brainlink as well as the other defendants were amenable to the personal jurisdiction of the court. The Delhi HC further noted that at the time of the adoption of the domain name, Brainlink was actively targeting viewers in India and was also willing to sell the domain name to HT Media which carries on business in Delhi. The correspondence regarding the sale of the domain name was also received by HT Media in Delhi, and hence a substantial and integral part of the cause of action under Section 20 (c) of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 to file the present suit had arisen within the jurisdiction of the Delhi HC. In view of the aforesaid facts, the Delhi HC held that it had personal jurisdiction over Brainlink as well as the other defendants.

Furthermore, considering that HT Media had not asserted its trade mark rights in United States and does not carry on any business in United States, it is evident that the filing of the declaratory suit by Brainlink in the United States was an attempt to frustrate HT Media from availing its remedies. In view of the same, the Delhi HC held the proceedings before the United States District Court to be vexatious and oppressive in nature and that HT Media had made out a prima facie case for grant of an anti-suit injunction.
 

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