The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to the intellectual property rights of the 1994 Hindi film Andaz Apna Apna, issuing a John Doe order to prevent the unauthorised use of its characters, title, dialogues and artistic elements.

The court has restrained over 30 individuals and entities from “reproducing, using, or commercially exploiting content related to the film without permission”. The lawsuit was filed by Vinay Pictures, represented by Shanti Vinaykumar Sinha, the legal heir of the film’s late producer, Vinay Sinha.

Justice Amit Bansal passed the ex parte interim injunction, observing that the plaintiff had established a clear case for protection. The order covers various forms of infringement, including merchandise, digital content, domain names and AI-generated material.

In his statement, Justice Bansal noted, “The plaintiff has demonstrated a prima facie case for grant of an interim injunction in its favour, and in case ex-parte and interim injunction is not granted, the plaintiff will suffer an irreparable loss.”

He further said, “Any objections to the quality of the defendants’ products will be attributable to the plaintiff, as the public would have purchased such goods under the mistaken impression that they emanate from the plaintiff.”

The court also extended the order to cover mirror and redirect URLs and allowed the plaintiff to include additional infringers if required.

According to Advocate Pravin Anand, representing the plaintiff, Vinay Pictures holds exclusive rights to the film’s intellectual property. This includes its characters, dialogues, costumes and iconic catchphrases such as Aila, Ouima, and Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai. 

The petition highlighted that these elements – particularly characters like Amar, Prem, Teja, and Crime Master Gogo- have acquired a strong secondary meaning and are widely recognised by the public.