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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025

 

--HC passes injunction against parties using Indian Hotels' Ginger trademark 

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court has passed a permanent injunction order against Ankit Sethi and others, for unauthorised use of Indian Hotels Co. Ltd's 'Ginger' trademark through their infringing websites www.gingerhotelmumbai.info and www.hotelgingermumbai.info. According to the petitioner, the defendants had misrepresented their websites as that of Indian Hotels Co.'s official website www.gingerhotels.com, thereby misleading users or customers into making payments for hotel bookings. 

 

In the present case, defendants have blatantly infringed the trademarks of Indian Hotels Co. and have also failed to appear before the court, said Justice Mini Pushkarna. Further, the illegal and fraudulent activities of the defendants may not only cause "incalculable loss to the plaintiff", but also to the large number of users or customers who may be under the impression that the defendants' websites are from the sub-brand of the plaintiff company, said Justice Pushkarna. This will consequently affect the business, goodwill and reputation associated with the plaintiff's mark, she added. 

 

The court further asked the defendants to pay INR 2 million fine for infringing the petitioner's trademark.

 

Indian Hotels Co. is part of India's biggest conglomerate, the Tata Group, and is a giant in the Indian hospitality sector as it manages a huge portfolio of hotels, resorts and palaces. At present, the plaintiff and its subsidiaries, together form a group of brands and businesses offering a world-class service in hospitality, which includes, Taj, Vivanta, Seleqtions, Ginger and Ama Stays and Trails.

 

Indian Hotels Co. had launched its 'Ginger' brand of hotels in 2004 under a new category of 'Smart Basics', which aims to provide a superior service offering and consistent experience to travellers, thereby transforming its 'Smart Basics' hotels into lean-luxe hotels. The plaintiff also holds several registrations of the mark 'Ginger', both as a word mark and also in the form of various device marks.

 

Further, the plaintiff has also been operating a dedicated website, www.gingerhotels.com, since 2005, in Class 43 of the Trade Marks Act, through which it has been extensively promoting the 'Ginger' hotels and services therein. The plaintiff's sub-brand, 'Ginger' hotels has now become one of the leaders in its segment, which was showcased by the annual report of financial year 2022-23 (Apr-Mar) for 'Ginger' brand, wherein, the plaintiff's revenue was recorded to be more than INR 3 billion, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of INR 1.20 billion.

 

In 2023, the plaintiff, through an online portal www.locobuzz.com, which it uses as its brand reputation management tool, came across the fake website www.gingerhotelmumbai.info, which prominently displayed its registered trademark 'Ginger' at the homepage of the website. Before the suit was filed, the said website was redirected to a new fake domain name www.hotelgingermumbai.info, which was registered only in December 2023.

 

At 1223 IST, shares of Indian Hotels Co. were down 0.4% at INR 826.50 on the National Stock Exchange.  End  

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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