Dream 11 Trademark Infringement Suit: Delhi High Court Grants Ex-Parte Ad-Interim Injunction Against "Satta Dream 11"

The Delhi High Court has granted ex-parte ad-interim injunction in a trademark infringement suit filed by "Dream 11", a fantasy sports platform, against "Satta Dream 11".

Justice Jyoti Singh restrained the defendant from using the mark SattaDream11 or any deceptively similar variant as the trademark, trade name or domain name amounting to infringement of the Plaintiffs' 'Dream11' trademark or passing off, till the next date of hearing.

The Court also directed Godaddy.com LLC to suspend access to the domain name www.sattadream11.com, within a period of one week.

Plaintiff No.1 was Sporta Technologies Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Plaintiff No.2. It was averred that Plaintiffs were a hugely popular and well- known fantasy sports platform launched in 2012 and were the official fantasy sports partner of the International Council of Cricket (ICC), the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Premiera Division (La Liga), Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL), KFC Big Bash League (BBL), Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20, National Basketball Association (NBA), Vivo Pro Kabaddi League, International Hockey Federation (FIH), Hero Indian Super League and T20 Mumbai.

Plaintiff No. 2 was the registered proprietor of the trademark Dream 11 in a number of classes in India. It also registered the domain www.dream11.com in March 2008.

It was further averred that the Plaintiffs' mobile and online platform had over 12 crore users playing fantasy, cricket, hockey, football, etc. as on the present date. Plaintiffs' rights over the trademark 'Dream 11' had been upheld by the High Court in several suits against many third parties, who had used variants of 'Dream 11' in their domain names such as 'eDream11', 'dream11.bet', 'mydream11', etc.

It was the case of the Plaintiffs that Defendant was the owner and operator of the website www.sattadream11.com registered in November 2021. Defendant were offering sports betting services on their website, which according to the plaintiffs by their nature was illegal in India.

It was thus argued by the plaintiffs that by using the its trademark, the Defendant was tarnishing their reputation and image in as much as the public is associating the Plaintiffs with the unlawful activities carried out by the Defendant.

"Having heard the learned counsel for the Plaintiffs, this Court is of the view that Plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad-interim injunction. Balance of convenience lies in favour of the Plaintiffs and they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in case the injunction, as prayed for, is not granted," the Court ordered.

The order was passed in an application filed under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 CPC. The main suit is listed on August 4. Summons is issued to Defendant, returnable on July 11, 2022, with a direction to file written statement within 30 days along with affidavit of admission/denial of the documents.

Case Title: SPORTA TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD. AND ANR. v. UNFADING OPC PRIVATE LIMITED

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 281

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