The Delhi High Court has asked an automotive e-commerce site to pay Rs two lakh as damages to OLX, an online trade facilitator, for airing advertisements disparaging the services offered by it.
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also allowed the plea of OLX for permanent injunction to restrain Cars24 Services Limited from airing such advertisements disparaging the services offered by them.
Taking note of the submissions that the parties arrived at a settlement to pay damages, the court said "the compromise arrived at between the parties is found to be lawful and allowed".
"The decree is passed in favour of the plaintiffs (OLX India B V and OLX India Private Ltd) and against the defendant (Cars24 Services Private Ltd), of permanent injunction in terms of prayer and of recovery of Rs 2 lakhs," it said.
The court also clarified that if the amount is not paid to OLX, they can take action against Cars24.
In its plea before the High Court through advocate Pravin Anand, OLX had contended that in December last year, it came to know that the automotive e-commerce site has launched a targeted online advertising campaign to promote its own services by blatantly disparaging its services.
It later approached the High Court against Cars24 for allegedly airing advertisement in the name of 'QLX', which they claimed was a direct reference to their brand name.
"Defendants being well aware that no genuine comparison is being made have used the trademark 'QLX' which is deceptively similar to the trademark OLX....The fact that Cars24 has chosen to thinly veil its reference to OLX as QLX highlights their mala fide intentions and points squarely of their sole intention of disparaging OLX's services," OLX had said in their plea.
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