Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board since 1974 manufacturing milk products under the well-known trademark "Mother Dairy" and its blue logo recognized as well-known by prior court order, filed this commercial suit in 2019 against unknown defendants for infringement, passing off, and copyright violation through the domain "motherdairydistributor.com" which mimicked their official website, logo, and content to defraud the public by soliciting payments for distributorships, jobs, or franchises into unrelated bank accounts. As part of a batch of suits addressing widespread cyber fraud via infringing domains registered with fictitious details and privacy shields, proceedings spanned 2019-2025 involving summons, interim injunctions granted ex-parte in May 2019 and made absolute in September 2022, impleading DNRs like GoDaddy, registries like Verisign, government entities including MeitY, DoT, MHA, RBI, NPCI, IBA, Delhi Police, and ICANN; multiple hearings elicited affidavits, status reports on investigations, SOPs for bank-LEA cooperation issued in May 2024, beneficiary name lookup mandated by RBI in December 2024, grievance officer appointments, and stakeholder consultations. The court reasoned that domain names form the online soul of businesses warranting protection against erosion of goodwill and consumer deception; analyzed the domain ecosystem's pyramidical structure under ICANN agreements imposing duties on DNRs and registries for verification, abuse prevention, disclosure, and order compliance; found lacks in KYC, default privacy enabling fraud, intermediary due diligence failures risking safe harbour loss under IT Act s.79, and need for systemic safeguards balancing privacy under DPDP Act with legitimate interests; emphasized dynamic/dynamic+ injunctions to counter rogue websites and non-compliance warranting blocks under IT Act s.69A for public order disruption. The court issued directions to DNRs/registries for no default privacy, 72-hour disclosures, permanent blocks, no alternatives for well-known marks, India-based grievance officers, KYC verifications; to government for frameworks, data repositories, TMCH access; criteria for dynamic+ injunctions extending to variations; to banks for name lookup and SOP adherence; and for this case, granted summary judgment under Order XIII-A CPC/IPD Rules r.27 with permanent/dynamic+ injunction restraining use/passing off/copying, mandatory permanent block/takedown by registry/DNRs/DoT/MeitY/ISPs/social media, domain transfer to plaintiff on payment, no damages as not pressed, disposing pending applications.
- Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) and Registry Operators are obligated under ICANN agreements to verify registrant details, investigate inaccuracies/abuse, provide WHOIS/RDDS access, comply with court orders, and prevent registrations violating third-party rights, with failure risking termination or safe harbour loss under IT Act s.79: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Paras 261-262, 272.
- Privacy protect shall not be default/opt-out; offered only on opt-in as paid value-added service separate from registration package: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(i).
- DNRs must disclose specified registrant/admin/tech/payment/hosting details to legitimate interests/LEAs/courts within 72 hours under Intermediary Guidelines 2021: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(ii).
- Infringing domains adjudged illegitimate shall be permanently blocked by registries/DNRs, not re-registered or pooled: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(iii).
- For well-known/invented marks with reputation in India, injunctions bar alternative domains/extensions/mirrors/alphanumerics: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(iv).
- DNRs shall not promote/suggest alternatives to injuncted domains, else lose safe harbour: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(v).
- For descriptive/generic marks, injunctions specific but extendable via Joint Registrar intervention: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(vi).
- Injuncted domains transferable to TM owner on usual charges: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(vii).
- No promotion/optimization services by search engines/DNRs to infringing domains: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(viii).
- All DNRs in India to appoint local Grievance Officers within one month, publish contacts: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(ix).
- Email service on Grievance Officer sufficient; insistence on MLAT/other modes deems non-compliant: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(x).
- Courts may direct MeitY/DoT to block non-compliant DNRs/services under IT Act s.69A for public order: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Paras 277(A)(xi), (B)(c).
- Registries to implement Trademark Clearinghouse for all brands: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(xii).
- DNRs in India to verify registrant details via e-KYC per CERT-In circular, periodically: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(xiii).
- DNRs under NIXI to provide registration data monthly: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(A)(xiv).
- Government to consult on NIXI-like framework, nominate nodal data repository, enable TMCH, publish well-known marks/websites list: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(B), (xvi).
- Dynamic+ injunction applies to exact marks, prefix/suffix/alphanumeric variations; legitimate registrants may seek court order: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(C)(xvii).
- Banks to mandatorily implement Beneficiary Name Lookup per RBI circular and abide by CEIB SOP for LEAs: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. v. Kumar Prahlad & Anr., CS(COMM) 297/2019 (High Court of Delhi, December 24, 2025), Para 277(D).
Case Title: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Kumar Prahlad & Anr.
Order date: 24th December, 2025
Case Number: CS (COMM) 297/2019
Neutral Citation: N/A
Name of court: High Court of Delhi at New Delhi
Name of Judge: Justice Prathiba M. Singh
[Readers are advised not to treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain errors in perception, interpretation, and presentation]
[Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi]
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