Actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr (popularly known as Jr NTR), a renowned Telugu film star with decades of successful career, multiple awards, massive public goodwill, trademark registrations in names like 'NTR', 'Jr. NTR' and 'Man of Masses', and high brand value, filed a commercial suit in Delhi High Court against John Doe and various online sellers, e-commerce platforms and intermediaries alleging unauthorised commercial exploitation of his personality and publicity rights through sale of infringing merchandise (T-shirts, posters, mugs etc.) bearing his name, image, likeness and sobriquets, as well as potential AI-generated content, causing confusion, deception and irreparable harm.
The Court granted exemptions from pre-institution mediation, Section 80 notice to proforma defendants, and allowed additional documents; registered the suit, issued summons to infringing defendants, and passed an ex-parte ad-interim injunction on 22 December 2025 restraining all defendants (including unknown persons) from violating the plaintiff's personality rights by any direct/indirect commercial use of his name, styles, photographs or creating/sharing any products/merchandise via any technology (including AI and GIFs) without consent, directing specific takedowns of listed infringing URLs within 72 hours, restraining e-commerce platforms from facilitating such sales, permitting Google to reindex non-removed URLs on non-compliance, and directing intermediaries to treat additional URLs as complaints under IT Rules 2021;
The Court also called for replies from major platforms on their complaint-handling policies regarding trademark/copyright/image misuse.
Crisp bullet points of law settled in the case
A celebrity's name, image, likeness and associated attributes (including registered trademarks and well-known sobriquets like 'Man of Masses') that have acquired substantial goodwill and distinctiveness through professional achievements, awards and brand endorsements constitute protectable personality and publicity rights, granting proprietary control against unauthorised commercial exploitation by third parties, particularly for merchandise sales. (Para 26–30)
Reliance: D.M. Entertainment Vs. Baby Gift House, MANU/DE/2043/2010; Anil Kapoor Vs. Simply Life India & Ors., 2023 SCC OnLine Del 6914 (Para 38–40); Jaikishan Kaku Bhai Sarf Alias Jackie Shroff Vs. The Peppy Store and Ors., 2024 SCC OnLine Del 3664.
Prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable injury are satisfied where continued availability of infringing merchandise exploiting a celebrity's personality rights causes deception, economic loss and reputational harm, warranting ex-parte ad-interim injunction and John Doe directions. (Para 31–32)
Case Title: Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Vs Ashok Kumar: 22.12.2025: CS(COMM) 1305/2025: Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
[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]
