The Delhi High Court has restrained 126 online platforms from using the “Jio” trademark in connection with unauthorized lottery and gaming operations, directing domain registrars and relevant authorities to promptly remove and suspend the offending sites.
Ruling on a plea brought by Reliance Industries Limited, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav categorized the targeted portals as rogue websites. In the order issued on October 7, the court observed that evaluating whether a platform warrants classification as a rogue website requires a qualitative assessment of its nature and conduct rather than a quantitative calculation.
Under the interim injunction, the platforms and their operators are prohibited from registering, operating, hosting, promoting, advertising, or administering any domains or services that incorporate the registered trademark “Jio,” “Jio Lottery,” “Jio Lottery Game,” or any deceptively similar variation. Justice Kaurav further instructed domain name registrars to suspend the primary accounts and website operations tied to the disputed addresses until further orders.
Reliance Cites Brand Dilution and Deception
The judicial intervention comes after Reliance Industries Limited identified 126 websites allegedly exploiting its intellectual property without permission. The company approached the court after discovering that external entities were utilizing its registered brand identity to provide lottery, online gaming, payment-related, and ancillary services.
Appearing for the conglomerate, advocates Ankit Sahni, Chirag Ahluwalia, and Mohit argued that Reliance possesses exclusive statutory and common law rights over the Jio mark. Counsel contended that third-party platforms adopting identical or near-identical names create public confusion, dilute the established brand, and cause commercial injury to the company, warranting an immediate blocking of the addresses.
Infringing Domains Identified Before Bench
According to the filings, the disputed websites incorporated the registered mark in its entirety as their primary and dominant identifier. Specific web addresses highlighted during the proceedings included www.jiolotteryi.com, www.jiolotterylogin.com, www.jiolotterygame.com, www.jiolottery.club, and www.jiolottery.store.
The counsel submitted that these platforms directly mirrored Reliance’s proprietary marks across lottery and allied digital services. The interim suspension of the associated websites and registrar accounts remains in effect pending the next stage of proceedings.
