When to use trademark without causing disparaging

The Delhi High Court on 4th June 2021 directed to suspend all the social media accounts/ web pages including Instagram Account namely “Rishabh (V) (@iamvegain),” Facebook Account namely “Rishabh Kaushal” and Twitter Account namely “@iamvegain” of the defendant in the case Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. & Anr. v/s Rishahb Kaushal & Ors.

The Court restrained the defendants from dealing with any plaintiffs “Amul”, trademarks, logos, advertisements, or any word confusingly or deceptively similar to it. Additionally, the Court also restrained the defendants from uploading any material that would be defamatory of the plaintiff on any other web page or social media account. This is not the first time that the defendants have performed such an act, as the Hon’ble Court has issued an injunction order against the defendants in a similar case previously to remove allegedly defamatory articles contained in its webpages and social media accounts.

Justice C. Hari Shankar of the Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte ad interim order as the defamatory act of the defendant has caused the reputation of the plaintiff, which was gained over some time. These directions shall remain until further notice, i.e., 2nd September 2021.

The plaintiff is aggrieved by the acts of the defendant on his social media platforms. The ad-interim order is sufficient for protecting the plaintiff’s interest. Other ad-interim orders requested by the plaintiff will be granted at an appropriate stage and time by the Hon’ble Court.

Reference: Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. & Anr. v/s Rishahb Kaushal & Ors CS(COMM) 273/2021