HC issues injunction against using Sangeetha hotel’s trademarks

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has granted an injunction against using trademarks of Sangeetha Veg Hotels, including logo and name.

The Sangeetha Caterers and Consultants LLP, a hotel business company that runs Sangeetha Veg hotels, moved the High Court seeking an injunction against using their name in any manner or logo by others. The case was listed before Justice PT Asha.

The petitioner said that they have been running hotels and restaurants under the brand name Sangeetha Veg Hotels since 1985 and contended that some of its franchisees breached their agreement and are running hotels in the name of Geetham, which is an identical name to Sangeetha. They alleged that the franchisees applied for registration of trademarks such as Sangeetham, Geetham, and Geetham Veg, which are deceptively similar to the petitioner’s trademark.

Senior counsel AK Sriram, appearing for Sangeetha hotel, contended that the franchisees also advertised slogans, “Only the name has changed, everything else remains the same” to misleads the customers, after the franchisees ended their agreement with the petitioner. The counsel sought to ban the franchisees from using the trademarks of the petitioner’s hotel.

After the submission, the judge observed that the adoption of the word “Geetham” coupled with the respondents’ advertisement has caused confusion in the minds of the public.