A local court recently awarded Microsoft Rs 55 lakh in damages after a company Retnec Solutions Pvt Ltd was found guilty of trademark infringement and running fraudulent call-center operations using Microsoft’s trademarks, including “Hotmail”, “Outlook” and “Office 365”.
The court also held that Microsoft shall be entitled to get Rs 20.6 lakh as litigation costs.
The court of Additional District Judge Mahavir Singh issued a permanent injunction restraining defendant from misusing Microsoft’s marks, ordered the destruction of infringing materials and directed the payment of damages, including punitive damages for tarnishing the multinational’s reputation.
“A decree for grant of damages along with punitive damages is passed against defendants no.1 to 3 directing them to pay an amount of Rs 50 lakh to the plaintiffs and they shall be jointly and severally liable to pay this amount to the plaintiffs. A decree for grant of damages along with punitive damages is passed against defendants no.7 & 8 directing them to pay an amount of Rs 5 lakh to the plaintiffs and they shall be jointly and severally liable to pay this amount to the plaintiffs,” the court ordered.
The court further directed the defendant to hand over all products and materials that use Microsoft trademarks (such as business brochures, promotional materials, sample call scripts, checks etc) for destruction.
Microsoft Corporation and its Indian subsidiary filed the suit against defendant for trademark infringement, passing off unfair trade practices, dilution, and damages under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
It was in 2018 that Microsoft, a globally recognised brand with trademarks for products like Windows, Office 365 and Xbox alleged that defendant impersonated Microsoft personnel and used their trademarks to operate fraudulent technical support services. Microsoft received over 707,421 complaints globally, some of which implicated the defendants. The defendants reportedly misled customers through pop-up messages, cold calls and unauthorised use of Microsoft’s branding, causing harm to Microsoft’s reputation and defrauding victims.
