When it comes to protecting intellectual property rights against a certain unknown person and when a person who can be a threat to a given task, project, work, where such a person can not be traced because his identity is hidden under different layers of cover, a legal remedial course of action emerges to protect such situations and that is called John Doe orders. Where individuals are anonymous, the basic idea is to protect intellectual property rights.

By copying an unidentifiable person on his project, where the outcome of such a project has become innovative or inventive, the person who is concerned that there is a likelihood of causing some harm can approach the court to direct them to issue a John Doe order. Where a person who is a party to certain legal proceedings but his or her name is unknown is an interesting concept of law. It may be anyone who breaches intellectual property rights by taking certain steps with such intent, be it an individual, company, partnership, association of individuals, a body of individuals, trust, society, service providers, website owners, newspaper owners. Upon request by an individual who is in the apprehension of having his book, film, television show, live sports event, may approach a court of the applicable jurisdiction and seek to secure a John Doe order that is referred to as the cease and desist order in the most acceptable legal sense to protect his likely loss due to copying and publishing without the knowledge or prior information of the author.

Legal Position of John Doe Orders in India

Order 30 Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure states that if a petitioner is likely to experience some copyright infringement by using the information generated by the petitioner or has hints of having his works copied in order to achieve some financial gains, he may approach the court and seek an order from John Doe.

Under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the court was empowered to issue an injunction order to issue a John Doe order.

The John Doe order has been recognized worldwide and has been accepted internally in terms of intellectual property rights enforcement. Although Indian courts have begun issuing John Doe orders, implementation and efficacy are still to be seen. The scope of the John Doe order was extended to the media, but in the event of an infringement of either trademark or copyright, it touched on seizing counterfeit goods. This even applies to those unidentified individuals who have been committed to the production and sale of counterfeit optics. Infringing Plaintiff labels, artistic work and packaging materials have also taken place in the Indian legal system, so far in the John Doe order. The basic principle is that the misnomer is not fatal as long as the litigating finger is pointed at a specific individual. From time to time, the Indian judicial system has realized that even before the event of infringement itself, the order of infringement should be passed to restrain threatened or likely wrongful ones.

While the John Doe order seems to be in the right direction from the point of view of protection, the very purpose must, however, be safeguarded. It should not deviate from the very purpose of a vague injunction that can be an abuse of the court of law process and this type of general and vague injunction of the anticipatory form should never be granted. The scope and extent of such orders should be categorically stated in order to protect the interest, in order to avoid any kind of misuse. The use of John Doe orders in Indian terms has brought interesting awareness and a sense of protection among the owners of intellectual property. The main point of the John Doe order before the court of law is that what if the unidentified defendants are (1) unaware of such orders or (2) unwilling to follow such orders (3) prevents and prefers to continue with such infringement even after that, then what will be the purpose of having served such orders in that case, as it will go completely waste if the ultimate goal of having it is not achieved The mechanism for applying the John Doe order depends entirely on how Indian courts across India handle and enforce it.

This Article Does Not Intend To Hurt The Sentiments Of Any Individual Community, Sect, Or Religion Etcetera. This Article Is Based Purely On The Authors Personal Views And Opinions In The Exercise Of The Fundamental Right Guaranteed Under Article 19(1)(A) And Other Related Laws Being Force In India, For The Time Being. Further, despite all efforts that have been made to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the information published, White Code Legal and Tax shall not be responsible for any errors caused due to human error or otherwise.