What is Cybersquatting? Is Cybersquatting Punishable in India?

JioHotstar Domain Impasse. Is Cybersquatting Punishable in India?

When we talk about cybersquatting in India, we must know it is punishable. Although in the absence of any specific law, Indian courts fall back on the Trademarks Act, 1999 to resolve disputes pertaining to cybersquatting.

What Is Cybersquatting? What is The Punishment for Cybersquatting in India?

It refers to the practice of registering domain names that are identical or similar to existing trademarks with an intention to sell them back to the rightful owners, It can create consumer confusion and revenue loss as well.

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Some Major Types of Cybersquatting are

Typosquatting.

Combosquatting.

Identity Theft.

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It is important to know the Indian legal position.  For the knowledge of our esteemed readers, it is significant to know that Indian Courts have been at the forefront when it comes to providing remedies against Cybersquatting.

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In Yahoo! Inc. v Akash Arora & Anr_: The Delhi High Court ruled that registering a domain name similar to a trademark can cause confusion and harm the trademark owner's reputation.

Therefore, to protect against cybersquatting, individuals and businesses can cause confusion and harm the trademark owner's reputation.

Certain Steps Must be Initiated Without Fail

Trademarks and Domain names must be registered. Domain names must be monitored. Domain name dispute resolution mechanisms must be used. Don't hesitate to seek legal advice.

Recently a Delhi-based developer made headlines after he revealed that he owns the domain name jiohotstar.com. The developer, who foresaw a potential merger of Reliance JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, purchased the domain some time ago.

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In simple terms, you can say that the developer buying the domain and offering it up for sale is known as Cybersquatting. The idea is to use the domain name to profit from the corporate or personal name of an individual.

Following the JioHotstar domain tussle, another user Amit Bhawani took to his X account to share that he was sent a legal notice by Reliance for acquiring the domain reliancejio.com and riljio.com in 2012. This was three years before Jio was officially announced.

Conclusion

The current law against cybersquatting in India is not very clear. The legal framework seems vague. So the same can create a problem or two.

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