The Patiala House Court at Delhi recently restrained Oyo Rooms from using the trademark ‘Savoy Greens’ as part of the listed hotels on its website..The Court has further directed Oyo Rooms not to use any search engine services in any manner in respect of any goods or services or any advertising for promotional use related to Savoy Greens..The interim injunction was passed by Additional District Judge Ravinder Bedi in a suit by the authorized user of the trademark ‘Savoy Greens’, KK Ropeways Ltd against Oyo Rooms..The plaintiff had moved the Court against the unauthorized use of its trademark by the defendant. It was alleged that Oyo misused the trademark and diverted customers searching and enquiring for the plaintiff’s hotel to its listed hotels..Oyo had entered into an agreement with KK Ropeways whereby it would rent the rooms of the latter’s hotel, Savoy Greens, to the customers in exchange for a platform fee, service fee and assured benchmark revenue. As per the finalized agreement, Oyo Rooms contracted 16 rooms in the plaintiff’s hotel at a platform fee of 2.5%..Further, it was agreed that all the payments to the plaintiff would become due at the end of every month and should be settled by the 7th of the next month. However, vide an email dated July 23, 2018, Oyo promised that the payments would be made on a weekly basis..The Court was further informed that Oyo never adhered to the terms of the agreement, which resulted in huge losses to the plaintiff. It was claimed that no payments were made to the plaintiff except for one payment of Rs. 50,979 on October 6, 2018. It was further submitted that several issues regarding non-payment of dues, commission on GST amount, different rates of booking etc. arose between the parties..Finally, on December 5, 2018, the plaintiff terminated the agreement. Several requests for payment of outstanding dues of Rs. 1,73,908 were also made..Meanwhile, the plaintiff discovered that even after the termination of the agreement, Oyo was using its trade name, Savoy Greens, on its website..On further enquiry, the plaintiff came to know that when a customer searched for the keywords ‘Savoy Greens’ on Google, the first result showed Savoy Greens as one of Oyo’s listed hotels..It was also alleged that when one such customer spoke to one of Oyo’s agents regarding a booking, he was told that there were no rooms available with ‘Savoy Greens’, but there was a different hotel near Savoy Greens where a room was available..Subsequently, vide an email dated January 23, 2019, the plaintiff urged Oyo to remove its name from its website. Additionally, it also asked Oyo to clear dues payable to OTAs like booking.com..When it was found that Oyo continued to represent itself as being associated with the plaintiff, the present suit was filed by the plaintiff, seeking damages of Rs. 10 lakh, a decree of permanent injunction, and payment of outstanding dues..Before the Court, Oyo submitted that it was willing to settle the matter through mediation/conciliation. In its reply to the legal notice, Oyo also stated that it has removed the listing of the plaintiff from Google and other OTAs and has also taken all steps to remove ‘Savoy Greens’ as part of its listed hotels, the Court noted..After hearing the parties, the Court restained Oyo or its agents from using the trademark Savoy Greens as part of its listed hotels on the website. The Court has also injuncted all related usage of Savoy Greens on Oyo’s search engines on their websites as well as Google, Yahoo etc..While directing Oyo to file its written submission in the case, the Court listed the matter for hearing on September 28..KK Ropeways was represented by advocates Rajat Arora and Vishalakshi Singh..Oyowas represented by advocate Prithvi Singh..Oyo Rooms has reportedly been facing challenges from several hotelier associations over disputes ranging from arbitrary charges to mismanagement. Recently, the Delhi High Court had come to the company’s rescue when it restrained a hotelier association from issuing notices and letters calling for a ban on Oyo Rooms..[Read Order].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
The Patiala House Court at Delhi recently restrained Oyo Rooms from using the trademark ‘Savoy Greens’ as part of the listed hotels on its website..The Court has further directed Oyo Rooms not to use any search engine services in any manner in respect of any goods or services or any advertising for promotional use related to Savoy Greens..The interim injunction was passed by Additional District Judge Ravinder Bedi in a suit by the authorized user of the trademark ‘Savoy Greens’, KK Ropeways Ltd against Oyo Rooms..The plaintiff had moved the Court against the unauthorized use of its trademark by the defendant. It was alleged that Oyo misused the trademark and diverted customers searching and enquiring for the plaintiff’s hotel to its listed hotels..Oyo had entered into an agreement with KK Ropeways whereby it would rent the rooms of the latter’s hotel, Savoy Greens, to the customers in exchange for a platform fee, service fee and assured benchmark revenue. As per the finalized agreement, Oyo Rooms contracted 16 rooms in the plaintiff’s hotel at a platform fee of 2.5%..Further, it was agreed that all the payments to the plaintiff would become due at the end of every month and should be settled by the 7th of the next month. However, vide an email dated July 23, 2018, Oyo promised that the payments would be made on a weekly basis..The Court was further informed that Oyo never adhered to the terms of the agreement, which resulted in huge losses to the plaintiff. It was claimed that no payments were made to the plaintiff except for one payment of Rs. 50,979 on October 6, 2018. It was further submitted that several issues regarding non-payment of dues, commission on GST amount, different rates of booking etc. arose between the parties..Finally, on December 5, 2018, the plaintiff terminated the agreement. Several requests for payment of outstanding dues of Rs. 1,73,908 were also made..Meanwhile, the plaintiff discovered that even after the termination of the agreement, Oyo was using its trade name, Savoy Greens, on its website..On further enquiry, the plaintiff came to know that when a customer searched for the keywords ‘Savoy Greens’ on Google, the first result showed Savoy Greens as one of Oyo’s listed hotels..It was also alleged that when one such customer spoke to one of Oyo’s agents regarding a booking, he was told that there were no rooms available with ‘Savoy Greens’, but there was a different hotel near Savoy Greens where a room was available..Subsequently, vide an email dated January 23, 2019, the plaintiff urged Oyo to remove its name from its website. Additionally, it also asked Oyo to clear dues payable to OTAs like booking.com..When it was found that Oyo continued to represent itself as being associated with the plaintiff, the present suit was filed by the plaintiff, seeking damages of Rs. 10 lakh, a decree of permanent injunction, and payment of outstanding dues..Before the Court, Oyo submitted that it was willing to settle the matter through mediation/conciliation. In its reply to the legal notice, Oyo also stated that it has removed the listing of the plaintiff from Google and other OTAs and has also taken all steps to remove ‘Savoy Greens’ as part of its listed hotels, the Court noted..After hearing the parties, the Court restained Oyo or its agents from using the trademark Savoy Greens as part of its listed hotels on the website. The Court has also injuncted all related usage of Savoy Greens on Oyo’s search engines on their websites as well as Google, Yahoo etc..While directing Oyo to file its written submission in the case, the Court listed the matter for hearing on September 28..KK Ropeways was represented by advocates Rajat Arora and Vishalakshi Singh..Oyowas represented by advocate Prithvi Singh..Oyo Rooms has reportedly been facing challenges from several hotelier associations over disputes ranging from arbitrary charges to mismanagement. Recently, the Delhi High Court had come to the company’s rescue when it restrained a hotelier association from issuing notices and letters calling for a ban on Oyo Rooms..[Read Order].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
