With inputs from Sarvesh Mathi Displaying a warning before downloading an app from a website doesn't amount to trademark infringement, the Delhi High Court noted on February 14th, as it dismissed an interim plea filed by WinZO games against Google. Describing the warning as a disclaimer, it doesn't prohibit or block a download and simply acts to caution users before they download apps outside of Google's ecosystem, Justice Amit Bansal noted, reported the Indian Express. So, what did WinZO say in its plea?: WinZO's app, introduced in February 2017, was available on Google's Play Store until it converted into a paid gaming platform. After that, it was removed from the Play Store. Now, users can directly download the app from its website. In November 2021, WinZO found out about the warning Google (along with other search engines) was issuing to users downloading the app—"this type of file may harm your device. Do you want to keep WinZO.apk anyway?". The gaming platform wanted the Court to restrain Google from displaying these warnings. These warnings were also leading to declining downloads from WinZO's website, it added. The case was filed in 2022. What did the Delhi Court say?: After examining the Trademark Act, the Court noted that the name 'WinZO' was only being used to identify the "file being downloaded for the purpose of the warning”. Google wasn't providing goods or services using the trademark, nor advertising goods and services with it. A case of infringement according to the Act wasn't made out, it…
