New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS): The Delhi High Court has issued directions to combat fraudulent websites impersonating Burger King and deceiving individuals seeking franchise licenses to operate branches of the fast-food chain.

A bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh, hearing Burger King Corporation's case against fake franchises seeking protection of its trademarks, including 'Burger King', ordered the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) not to permit any website registrations with domain extensions such as '.co.in' or '.in' that contain 'Burger King' in the name.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) were asked to issue blocking orders for such domain names and websites, with immediate effect, which all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must adhere to.

The court also called upon the Delhi Police to investigate the matter, as it observed that these fraudulent websites were fraudulently collecting money under the Burger King name by exploiting its brand and trademarks. Previously, the court had issued an interim injunction against specific fake websites improperly using the 'Burger King' mark.

Justice Singh extended this interim injunction to cover two additional domain names and ordered their immediate suspension. The court was apprised that an unsuspecting individual, intending to obtain a Burger King franchise, had paid Rs 2,65,000 to a bank account associated with one of these fraudulent websites.

To prevent further funds from entering such deceptive bank accounts, Justice Singh ordered the Bank of Maharashtra to freeze the account and investigate how a bank account under the name 'Burger King India Pvt Ltd' had been opened without proper verification.

Moreover, GoDaddy.com was directed to promptly block a fraudulent website operating under the name www.burgerkingind.co.in.