HC directs travel portals to take down listings by 'orchid' infringer

Mumbai: In a temporary relief for Kamat Hotels (India), the Bombay High Court has directed a clutch of online travel portals including Makemytrip, Goibibo, Booking.com B.V. and Agoda to take down the listings of a company that allegedly infringed the trademark of its brand 'The Orchid'. The BSE-listed hotel chain Kamat Hotels had approached the court against city-based firm Orchid Service Apartment with the argument that the company was infringing its trademark by running a service apartment/hotel and rendering services under the trade mark 'The Orchid'.

"The identity/close and deceptive similarity of the rival marks and the services cannot be a mere coincidence," observed Justice RI Chagla in his order of September 18. "Considering the fact that the use of the impugned trade mark by defendant No. 1 (Orchid Service Apartment) amounts to infringement of trade mark, the listing of defendant No. 1's hotel under the impugned trade mark on the platforms of defendant Nos. 2 to 7 (online hotel booking portals) cannot continue." The court has posted the case for further hearing on October 10.

Kamat Hotels has also made hotel booking platforms such as Agoda Co., Trivago N.V., TripAdvisor LLC and Oravel Stays (Oyo Rooms) a party to the case. The company owns five brands and has an inventory of over 2,000 rooms across all hotel properties. Earlier, Kamat Hotels' counsel Hiren Kamod along with Vaibhav Keni of law firm Legasis Partners had argued that defendant No. 1's trade mark, The Orchid, was identical with and/or closely and deceptively similar to their client's registered trademark.


They further argued that their client's hotels under the trade mark 'The Orchid' were also listed on defendant No. 2 to 6's websites (online hotel booking portals). Defendant Nos. 2 to 7 should therefore be directed to take down the listing of defendant No. 1's hotel under the impugned trade mark from their platforms/websites," said company.