The Bombay High Court has directed social media platforms and domain registrars to remove fake accounts and websites impersonating the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The court granted ad interim relief to NSE in a trademark suit, instructing platforms like X and Google-owned YouTube to take down infringing content. Justice Sharmila Deshmukh emphasized the need to protect unsuspecting investors from fraudulent stock market guidance.
Senior counsel Birendra Saraf represented NSE, arguing that defendants X Corp and Google LLC are intermediaries where unknown persons have infringed NSE’s registered trademark. The fake accounts misrepresent their content as originating from NSE. NSE also pointed out that the website www.nsetrend.com infringes its trademark by using the mark in the URL and mimicking the exchange’s color scheme.
Charu Shukla, representing Google LLC, contended that not all identified YouTube channels relate to the stock market, with some being music channels. She suggested that notice should be issued to the YouTubers before any order is passed.
