A tussle between Mumbai-based Kamat Hotels and Royal Orchid Hotels over infringement of the ‘Orchid’ trademark has finally come to an end after a recent Supreme Court order ruled in favour of the former.

The dispute revolved around use of ‘Orchid’ in the names and brands of both the hospitality companies. Kamat Hotels owns and runs two Orchid Hotels in Mumbai and Pune.

Kamat Hotels now plans to take over stressed hospitality assets and re-brand them as Orchid Hotels to grow its eco-friendly boutique five-star chain.

“We are seeking opportunities for acquiring stressed assets and entering brownfield projects under the boutique five-star brand of Orchid. These would be hotels which are already under construction and we would be re-branding them as Orchid since we have won the trademark case against Royal Orchid,” said Vishal Kamat, CEO, Kamat Hotels.

In the past, Kamat Hotels had been forced to shut down nearly 6-7 Orchid Hotels in places like Delhi due to financial compulsions.

The company is also in the process of re-branding some of its existing hotel brands like Lotus Resorts in Goa and Vits in Bhubaneshwar to upscale them to the five-star brand ‘Orchid’.

With ‘Orchid’ brand being restored to Kamat Hotels, it will seek management contracts for running the brand in States like Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal, added Kamat.

Currently, almost 65 per cent of Kamat Hotel’s turnover comes from its two Orchid Hotels.

Regenta brand

Meanwhile, Royal Orchid Hotels is expected to focus on the mid-market brand of Regenta while continuing to use the trademark for the existing 16 hotels under Royal Orchid.

In a statement, the Royal Orchid management said, “It may be noted that the said order pertains to the registration of the mark Royal Orchid under the Trade Marks Act and does not concern the continued use of the mark which is the subject matter of a separate pending suit between the parties before the Bombay High Court.’’

Chander K. Baljee, Chairman and Managing Director, Royal Orchid Hotels, said, “We are not in a tearing hurry to stop using the Royal Orchid trademark for the existing 16 hotels since we have hotels across 3, 4 and 5 star categories across the brand. The Supreme Court order does not have any impact on our current hotel operations.’’

The dispute between Royal Orchid and Kamat Hotels started in 2009 over the ‘Orchid’ trademark infringement. In 2011, Royal Orchid launched the Regenta brand of hotels to avoid conflict. It now has 30 Regenta Hotels and plans to add 10-15 more in the 3- and 4-star segment.

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