Notice issued to rediff.com on BCCI petition

Chennai, May 28 (UNI) Madras High Court today issued notice to rediff.com on a petition filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), seeking to restrain the web portal from hosting an online cricket game and using the title 'Indian Fantasy League', besides a logo which resembled that of its Indian Premier League.

Admitting the petition, Justice M Sathyanarayanan ordered notice and posted the matter after vacation.

In its petition, the BCCI sought damages of Rs ten lakh and wanted the court to direct rediff.com to furnish a true account of all the profits earned by it using the title Indian Fantasy League. BCCI also wanted the court to appoint a Commissioner to seize and destroy all articles, labels, literature and advertising materials bearing the mark Indian Fantasy League and its logo.

Citing rediff.com India Ltd and its owner Sandeep Goyal of Mumbai as defendants, the BCCI submitted that continued access to their website www.indianfantasyleague.com would result in confusion among the public, who would be misled into believing that the website belonged to the BCCI or was connected to it in some manner.

Fearing irreparable loss to its trade and reputation, the BCCI accused the two of attempting to dishonestly exploit its title, trademark and logo which had ''acquired tremendous reputation and goodwill within a short span of time''.

UNI XR GD RL US1641