Delhi, August 22: The Delhi High Court has turned down travel giant Yatra Online Limited’s plea for an interim injunction against Mach Conferences and Events, which planned to launch a travel platform under the name BookMyYatra.
Justice Tejas Karia, delivering the order on Friday, ruled that Yatra cannot claim exclusive rights over the Hindi word “Yatra”, which simply means journey or travel. The court noted that the trademark registrations owned by Yatra included a disclaimer denying exclusive claim to the word itself.
Background to the Dispute
Yatra, a well-known online travel company operating since 2006, argued that the name BookMyYatra was deceptively similar to its established marks Yatra and Yatra.com. The company said that Mach Conferences, which works in the meetings and events segment, had “deliberately adopted” its brand to ride on Yatra’s goodwill. It pointed to the defendant’s trademark applications, new domain name, and proposed expansion into consumer travel bookings as evidence of bad faith.
The company further stressed that millions of Indian customers identify the word Yatra exclusively with its services. Its lawyers argued that the mark had acquired distinct recognition in the online travel industry and deserved protection.
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The opposing side countered that Yatra was a generic word in Hindi, already used widely by several travel firms across India. Recognising a monopoly on such a common term, they said, would unfairly force thousands of small operators out of business. They also highlighted that the Registry of Trademarks had repeatedly refused Yatra an exclusive claim over the term in Class 39, which covers travel services.
After examining the submissions, Justice Karia ruled that simply because Yatra was a big travel player, it could not monopolise a word commonly used in India for travel. “When a descriptive word is adopted for business, it runs the risk of being freely used by others,” the court observed, stressing that Yatra had not acquired a secondary meaning that displaced its original meaning of travel.
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The order further pointed out that the prefix BookMy gave the defendant’s mark sufficient distinction when seen as a whole. The court also recalled a previous decision where BookMyShow was held not to have exclusivity in the phrase BookMy.
Impact of the Decision
With this ruling, the interim injunction that had earlier stopped Mach Conferences from using BookMyYatra stands lifted. The decision signals a strong reminder for Indian companies: adopting a common Indian word as a brand name comes with risks. Unless the word develops a unique identity unrelated to its original meaning, courts are unlikely to block competitors from using it in good faith.
Case Title:- Yatra Online Limited vs Mach Conferences and Events Limited
Case Number:- CS(COMM) 1099/2024
