DELHI HIGH COURT: FLIPKART'S 'LATCHING-ON' FEATURE CANNOT BE USED TO SELL COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTS OR MISLEAD GULLIBLE PUBLIC

The court in the case observed that sale of the products by the two individual defendants by passing off their products as those emanating from "Maharaja" brand on Flipkart cannot be allowed. The court stated that, the feature of latching-on cannot be used to either sell counterfeit products, or to mislead the gullible public into purchasing products, as emanating from a particular source, when they do not so originate from the said source.

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The Delhi High Court in the case Modern Mold Plast Pvt Ltd & Anr. v. Flipkart Internet Pt Ltd & Ors observed that the feature of latching-on offered by e-commerce platform Flipkart cannot be used to sell counterfeit products or to mislead the gullible public into purchasing products as emanating from a particular source when they do not do so.

The court observed that, latching on is the feature whereby an e-commerce platform permits third party sellers to place a listing under an already listed product on the website. 'More sellers' option on a product's page allows a user to see other traders of the same product.

The bench headed by Justice Mini Pushkarna in the case was hearing the copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by a furniture selling brand "Maharaja” against Flipkart and two others.