Delhi High Court Declares 'Ritz Carlton' As Well-Known Trademark In Hotel & Hospitality Industry In India

“The long duration for which the RITZ and RITZ-CARLTON marks have been in use by the plaintiffs, wide geographical area of their use, their knowledge among the general public and their goodwill and reputation due to the extensive promotion, publicity and extensive revenue generated by the plaintiffs, in India as well as other countries, the RITZ and RITZ CARLTON marks have achieved the status of well-known trademarks,” Justice Amit Bansal observed.

The bench therefore passed a decree of declaration under Section 2(1)(zg) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

The development comes in a suit preferred by the company against one MS Hotel Ritz which was running a website www.ritz-hotels.com and offering reservations in their facility on third party travel platforms.

The company claimed it has various trademark registrations in India for the Ritz and Ritz-Carlton marks and that the marks are widely recognized and known among Indian consumers.

The Court noted that the company fulfills all the criteria set out in Section 11(6) [factors to be considered while determining whether a mark is a well-known trademark] and in Section 11(7) [factors that the Registrar of Trade Marks need to consider while deciding whether a mark is known or recognized in the relevant section of the public].

It noted there were news articles about Indian dignitaries' visit to The Ritz Paris, references to the hotels in movies and books, awards/ recognition in India, domain name registrations, legal proceedings certificates of trade mark registrations in India, etc.

As such, the Court passed a decree of permanent injunction restraining the defendants from infringing the company's trademark. It also directed to immediately discontinue the use of impugned websites.

Appearance: Mr. Pravin Anand, Ms. Vaishali R. Mittal and Ms. Gitanjali Sharma, Advocates; Mr. Rishub Kapoor, Advocate

Case title: The Ritz Hotel Limited & Ors. v. MS Hotel Ritz & Ors.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 651

Case no.: CS(COMM) 8/2025

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