The Delhi High Court has recently issued orders to prevent deceptive websites that imitate the Burger King brand from defrauding individuals seeking franchise licenses to open new branches of the fast-food chain. In pursuit of which, the Court has instructed the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to prohibit the registration of any websites using 'Burger King' in their domain names, particularly with extensions such as ‘. co.in' or '.in'.

During the proceedings, Justice Prathiba M Singh emphasized the necessity for adopting strict measures against the inappropriate use of domain names. This occurred within the context of a lawsuit filed by the Burger King Corporation against counterfeit franchise operations and for safeguarding its trademarks, including 'Burger King'.

Additionally, the Court has also directed the Delhi Police to conduct an investigation into the matter. This decision was made due to the observation that many fraudulent websites were being utilized to illegitimately solicit funds under the guise of Burger King, exploiting its brand and trademarks for wrongful gain.
Previously, the High Court had issued a temporary injunction order against specific counterfeit websites that were misusing the 'Burger King' mark without authorization. In a recent development, Justice Singh has expanded the scope of this interim injunction order to encompass two additional domain names and has instructed their immediate suspension.

During the proceedings, the Court was apprised of an unfortunate incident in which an unwitting consumer, desiring to acquire a Burger King franchise, transferred ₹2,65,000 to a bank account associated with one of these fraudulent websites.

Justice Singh emphasized the immediate necessity of preventing any additional funds from being deposited into the deceptive bank accounts. Consequently, the Court has issued an order for the Bank of Maharashtra to freeze the account. Furthermore, the bank has been instructed to conduct an inquiry into how a bank account under the name of 'Burger King India Pvt Ltd' was allowed to be established without proper verification of credentials, addressing a crucial aspect of the case.
The court stated, “Bank of Maharashtra is directed to disclose the identity of the account holder, KYC details and any other documents, which it may have.”

Additionally, the Court has issued an order instructing GoDaddy.com to promptly block access to a deceptive website operating under the domain name www.burgerkingind.co.in, taking further steps to combat fraudulent activities related to the Burger King brand.

Case: Burger King Corporation versus Swapnil Patil & Ors. CS(COMM) 303/2022 & I.As.17896/2023.