While granting an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of real estate developer Signature Global (India) Limited, the Delhi High Court has protected the trademark owner against digital impersonation through infringing domain names, clone websites, and misleading social media pages, particularly where such misuse appears calculated to deceive customers and extract money by false association with the rights holder.
The Court asserted that where a plaintiff establishes registered trademark rights, asserts ownership over its official domain name and website content, and places material showing deceptive use of identical or confusingly similar marks on websites and social media platforms in a manner likely to mislead the public, the Court may grant ex parte ad interim protection.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh observed that the plaintiff had made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad interim injunction against the defendants. The Bench expressly recorded that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the plaintiff and that the plaintiff was likely to suffer irreparable harm if the interim injunction, as prayed for, was not granted.
The Bench had also earlier accepted the plaintiff’s plea that the matter involved urgent relief, and on that basis granted exemption from pre-institution mediation. This procedural observation is significant because it enabled immediate consideration of the plaintiff’s interim injunction application without insisting on prior mediation under Section 12-A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
Briefly, the matter arises from a commercial suit instituted by Signatureglobal (India) Limited seeking urgent interim relief against alleged infringement of its trademarks, misuse of its domain name and website content, and passing off through deceptive online platforms. The plaintiff pleaded that it is a public limited company engaged in real estate development and one of India’s leading companies in the affordable and mid-segment housing category, with a strong presence in NCR including Gurugram and Sohna. It was originally incorporated as Ridisha Marketing Private Limited on March 28, 2000 and was subsequently converted into a public limited company and renamed Signature Global (India) Limited, with a fresh certificate of incorporation. The plaintiff commenced real estate operations in 2014 and built substantial goodwill through multiple residential and commercial projects, timely delivery, transparent customer service, and sustainable development practices.
The plaintiff asserted that it is the registered proprietor of the trademarks “SIGNATUREGLOBAL/”, that the registrations are valid and subsisting, and that by virtue of Section 28 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, it enjoys the exclusive right to use the marks and restrain third-party infringement. It also claimed ownership of the official domain name registered on Jan 08, 2014, and stated that the said domain is used for formal communications, project promotion, business operations, and customer engagement. In addition, the plaintiff claimed copyright in the artistic elements of its website, including the logo, images, photographs, and design features used consistently across its branding and promotional material.
According to the plaintiff, in the last week of April 2026, during a routine online investigation, it discovered that Defendant No. 1 was operating impugned websites that were deceptively and confusingly similar to the plaintiff’s official website, prominently displaying the plaintiff’s registered trademark and referring to the plaintiff’s existing projects, allegedly to mislead the public into believing that the page was official or authorised. Additional allegedly infringing domains were also identified. The plaint alleges that Defendant No. 1 used false contact details and misrepresented itself as associated with or authorised by the plaintiff to deceive prospective customers and induce payments of booking amounts and advances, thereby causing prejudice to the plaintiff’s reputation, goodwill, and business interests.
