The court ruled that generic terms, such as 'YATRA', do not confer exclusive rights, rejecting claims of trademark infringement due to the lack of established secondary meaning.

JUDGMENT :

TEJAS KARIA, J.

I.A. 47682/2024

INTRODUCTION :

1. The Plaintiff has filed this Application for injunction restraining the Defendant from infringement of the Trade Mark, passing off, misrepresentation, dilution, unfair competition by directly or indirectly using, selling, advertising, mentioning, or dealing in any manner including as part of domain name the Marks ‘BOOKMYYATRA.COM’ or ‘BOOKMYYATRA’ (“Impugned Trade Marks”)

2. This Court vide order dated 09.12.2024 had granted ex-parte ad- interim injunction restraining the Defendant from using the Impugned Trade Marks.

3. The Defendant filed its Reply to this Application on 06.03.2025 opposing the grant of interim relief. The Plaintiff has filed Rejoinder to the Reply to this Application on 25.03.2025.

4. Accordingly, this Application was finally heard on 27.07.2025 and the order was reserved.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND:

5. The Plaintiff has submitted that:

5.1 The Plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the Trade Marks, ‘YATRA.COM’, ‘YATRA WITH DEVICE (Device) i.e., ‘YATRA FREIGHT’ and ‘YATRA FREIGHT (Device) i.e., (“Plaintiff’s Trade Marks”)

5.2 The Plaintiff’s Trade Mark ‘YATRA’ adopted by the Plaintiff in the year 2005 as a part of its Trade Name / Corporate Name. The Plaintiff commenced its business of providing online travel booking and related services to its customers in the year 2006. The Plaintiff through its interactive website, www.yatra.com, its mobile applications and its other associated platforms, provides an online platform to its customers to explore, research compare prices and book travel related services which include domestic and international air ticketing, hotel bookings, homestays, holiday packages, bus ticketing, rail ticketing, and ancillary services.

5.3 In the year 2007, the Plaintiff applied for various Trade Mark Applications seeking registration for the Mark ‘YATRA WITH DEVICE (Device) i.e.,bearing Registration Nos. 1521727, 1521728, and 1521729 all in Class 39 which contained a disclaimer stating that ‘No exclusive right for the word YATRA’. The Plaintiff also has several Word Mark registrations for the Mark ‘YATRA.COM’ bearing Registration Nos. 2260822, 2260824, and 2260836 in Classes 38, 42, and 45, respectively.

5.4 Over the years, since the commencement of its operations in 2006, the Plaintiff’s brand ‘YATRA’ has stood out as a strong and trusted brand in India which is associated with travel related services. The Plaintiff has built its brand from strength-to-strength resulting in Plaintiff having:

• Large and loyal customer base;

• Multi-channel platform for leisure and business travelers;

• Robust mobile applications;

• A strong technology platform designed to deliver a high level of scalability and innovation;

• A seasoned senior management team comprising of industry executives with deep roots in the travel industry in India and abroad.

5.5 The Plaintiff inter alia caters to the following types of business segments namely: ‘Business-To-Customer’ (“B2C”), Business- To-Business’ (“B2B”), Corporate Travel, Travel Agents, ‘Meeting, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions’ (“MICE” Segments.

5.6 In the current fiscal year (2024-2025), the Plaintiff also acquired Globe All India Services Limited. As a result of the said acquisition, approximately 360 corporate clients were added to the Plaintiff’s pre-existing corporate clients for a combined total of over 1200 corporate customers, which further strengthened the Plaintiff’s leadership in India’s corporate travel sector.

5.7 Due to the widespread popularity of the Plaintiff’s business, the Plaintiff has been awarded with