The use of the Taj brand, very popular in India, regularly led to confusion between the establishments owned and/or managed by IHCL and those that appropriated this name. India’s highest court has just confirmed that only IHCL holds the brand and that it is within its rights to take action against counterfeits.
The decision of the High Court of India was made on March 19, to the great satisfaction of the Indian Hotels Company Ltd, led by Puneet Chhatwal, stating that “the Taj brand and its related brands, developed by IHCL, designating the luxury hotel chain, are recognized as its sole property under the Trade Marks Act of 1999.”
This decision concludes a chapter that pitted IHCL against several hotel groups displaying the Taj Hotels brand on establishments of various types, potentially leading to a devaluation of the brand.
The court refers to the long-standing existence of the brand, first established in 1903 by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group, on the group’s first establishment, the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. This iconic hotel is still in operation, and its general manager, Ritesh Sharma, received the Hospitality Award for Best Luxury Hotel Director in 2023. This historical operation now grants the exclusive right to use the Taj Hotels brand.
While there was little confusion internationally regarding the Taj Hotels brand, present from New York to the Maldives, from London to Dubai, and across the ten properties that are part of The Leading Hotels of the World, such as the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, this was not necessarily the case for the major “regional” cities of the Indian subcontinent.
