HC bars Adyar Gate Hotels from using 'Dakshin' name on ITC trademark suit
This story was originally published at 14:14 IST on 13 February 2025
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NEW DELHI – Hearing a trademark infringement suit filed by ITC Ltd., the Delhi High Court on Thursday temporarily restrained Adyar Gate Hotels Ltd. from using the name 'Dakshin' in any form for its standalone restaurant in Chennai. The high court said that a prima facie case was made out in favor of ITC and the balance of convenience was also in favour of the plaintiff for its trademark 'Dakshin'.
Appearing for ITC, advocate Mukul Rohatgi said that the company held various registration of the trademark "Dakshin", of which the earliest was in 2000. Rohatgi said that ITC had entered into an agreement with Adyar Gate Hotels in 1985 to operate and manage a hotel in Chennai. Thereafter, a new agreement was signed between them, in which Welcome Group Park Sheraton hotel was launched. In the second agreement, ITC had granted a limited right to Adyar Gate to use the Dakshin trademark for the restaurant inside the premises.
The agreement between both the companies ran from 1985 to 2015. After 2015, Intercontinental Hotel Group took over management of the hotel in an agreement with Adyar Gate and subsequently, the hotel was rebranded as Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park. Rohatgi said that during this time, ITC did not object to the operation of Dakshin restaurant in the premises of the hotel because of the goodwill between the parties.
In 2023, Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park was shut down and the building was demolished to make way for a residential building. Rohatgi said that ITC was shocked to learn that Adyar Gate had opened a standalone restaurant in Chennai using the identical mark 'Dakshin' in December 2024.
At 1356 IST, shares of ITC Ltd. were up 0.4% at INR 411.40 on the National Stock Exchange. End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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