Bombay High Court restrains cab operators from using ‘Jio’ trademark

In a landmark trademark protection order, the Bombay High Court restrained a group of taxi operators from using the trademark ‘Jio’ owned by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for taxi services offered under the domain name www.jiocabs.com.

The interim order was issued by Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan on October 7, 2025, in response to RIL’s lawsuit alleging trademark infringement and passing off.

While giving interim relief in favor of the holding, Judge Sundaresan said, “Continuous use of a well-known and protected brand name will indeed lead to serious injuries.” He stated that RIL achieved a strong result. at first glance suit for urgent intervention, especially in view of the conduct of the defendants and the deceptive similarity of the disputed marks with RIL’s registered trademarks.

The court was informed that the defendants Asif Ahmed (registrant of the domain name), Usman (owner of Doon Taxi Service) and PDR Solutions LLC (registrar of the domain name) were operating taxi services in Dehradun and Delhi under the name “Jiocabs” and were using logos and artworks that were very similar to the original artistic works of RIL. The website also listed Mumbai as a service point.

Judge Sundaresan noted that although the defendants changed their business name following legal notice, the domain name www.jiocabs.com remained active. “Even the balance of convenience will be in favor of granting interim relief,” he said.

The court’s order prohibits the defendants and related entities from using the ‘Jio’ name, mark or any deceptively similar artwork in connection with taxi services or any other goods or services.

The protection covers RIL trademarks registered under multiple classes, including Class 9 (digital products), Class 38 (telecommunications) and Class 39 (transportation and travel services).

The judge also referred to the Bombay High Court’s earlier judgment of 2021, which recognized ‘Jio’ as a well-known trademark, in which RIL had 14 separate registrations and was facing misuse in at least 11 domain names.

The matter is next scheduled for hearing on November 28, 2025. The defendants were given four weeks to submit their answers.