E-Commerce Websites with Active Participation in Selling Process Can’t Claim Immunity Provided To Intermediaries, Says Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

‘E-commerce websites and online marketplaces ought to operate with caution if they wish to enjoy the immunity provided to intermediaries.’In an important judgment dealing with the violation of trade mark rights by e-commerce platforms and the extent of protection/exemption enjoyed them; the Delhi High Court has held that when an e-commerce company claims exemption under Section 79 of. ‘E-commerce websites and online marketplaces ought to operate with caution if they wish to enjoy the immunity provided to intermediaries.’ In an important judgment dealing with the violation of trade mark rights by e-commerce platforms and the extent of protection/exemption enjoyed them; the Delhi High Court has held that when an e-commerce company claims exemption under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, it ought to ensure that it does not have an active participation in the selling process. The court, after referring to international and Indian case laws on the subject, observed that while the so-called safe harbour provisions for intermediaries are meant for promoting genuine businesses which are inactive intermediaries, and not to harass intermediaries in any way, the obligation to observe due diligence, coupled with the intermediary guidelines which provides specifically that such due diligence also requires that the information which is hosted does not violate IP rights, shows that e-commerce platforms which actively conspire, abet or aide, or induce commission of unlawful acts on their website cannot go scot-free. It added that e-commerce websites and online marketplaces ought to operate with caution if they wish to enjoy the immunity provided to intermediaries.