In a plea before the Delhi High Court seeking the grant of an ex parte ad interim injunction, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora noted that irreparable harm would be caused to the reputation and goodwill of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) if the defendants are not restrained, and thus, an ad interim injunction was granted to protect the well-known trade mark VIVANTA.
The plaintiff, IHCL, incorporated by the Tata Group in 1902, is a pioneer in the hospitality industry. IHCL brings together a group of brands, including Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, and Ginger, that offer world-class service. It was mentioned that IHCL has a portfolio of 200+ hotels, including 40 under development globally.
It was contended that IHCL coined and adopted the mark ‘VIVANTA’ for its hotels and other services in 2008 and was the proprietor of the said well-known trade mark. IHCL has 35 VIVANTA hotels across 33 destinations, and it also has a website dedicated to the brand. It was further stated that this Court had earlier declared IHCL’s VIVANTA as a well-known trade mark.
In April 2025, IHCL learned that Vivanta Stays (Defendant 1) had been using IHCL’s registered trade mark VIVANTA for unauthorized and conspicuous use on its website and third-party e-platforms. IHCL issued a cease-and-desist notice to Vivanta Stays, asking it to stop using the VIVANTA trade mark. Thereafter, Vivanta Stays informed IHCL that it was willing to remove the impugned trade mark as it was rebranding. However, on 31-07-2025, IHCL learned that the defendant continued to use the mark.
An investigation into the activities of Vivanta Stays led to Vivanta Realty (Defendant 2), which was also involved in the wrongdoings related to the usage of the VIVANTA mark. A cease-and-desist notice was also sent to them, after which Vivanta Realty gave an undertaking not to use the said mark in the future.
The Court noted that a perusal of the plaint and the documents on record showed that defendants 1 and 2 acknowledged IHCL’s proprietary rights in the trade mark VIVANTA, and that the use of an identical mark ex facie infringes IHCL’s well-known trade mark.
Further, the Court stated that Vivanta Stays appeared to be a fraudulent entity that was untraceable, and that it would be in favour of unwary consumers that the defendant is injuncted from using IHCL’s trade mark to lure them. It was noted that Vivanta Realty had already undertaken to discontinue the use of the said mark.
Thus, the Court held that IHCL had made a prima facie case for the grant of an ad-interim injunction and that the balance of convenience was in favour of the plaintiff. The Court restrained defendants 1 and 2 and all others associated with them from unauthorizedly using IHCL’s well-known trade mark VIVANTA for their infringing activities. They were also directed to take down their website, any physical hoardings, and all references to said trade mark from their social media accounts.
The domain name registrar concerned was also directed to suspend the impugned domain name www.vivantastay.in within one week and to provide the details to IHCL. Further, defendants 1 and 2 were directed to file a reply within four weeks, and defendants 3 to 5 were directed to file their compliance affidavits within the same period.
The matter will now be listed on 26-02-2025.
Appearances:
For Plaintiff – Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Dhruv Anand, Ms. Udita Patro, Ms. Nimrat Singh, Mr. Dhananjay Khanna
For Defendants – None
