Skip to main content

Taj Mahal Palace becomes first privately owned hotel in India to receive trademark registration

In a first, The Indian Hotels Company Limited has been granted protection for the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai by the Registrar of Trademarks as an image mark.

The over-100-year-old hotel, and one of the most recognisable buildings in the country, Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai has become the first privately owned hotel in India to receive trademark protection for its architectural design. The hotel joins a rarified club of iconic buildings around the world that have been accorded trademark protection, including the Empire State Building in New York and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Registration proceedings were completed in seven months.

Special mention must be made of Rajendra Misra, General Counsel, Indian Hotels Company Limited, for his vision to protect the image of this revered property, and safeguard it from misappropriation. Rajendra Misra explained his thinking succinctly, “One look at that property and you know it is the Taj. We don’t even need a signboard over there…that’s exactly what a trademark is.”

Read more.

The firm has handled several firsts, including protecting the first sound mark and colour marks in India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkD6NaEJhoo

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
Sep 16, 2026

In the evolving global trade landscape, the transition from informal commercial activity to a structured Intellectual Property (IP) strategy is no longer

Design Registration for MSMEs in India: Necessity, Uptake, and Regulatory Developments
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
Sep 11, 2026

Technology companies building in India are frequently told two contradictory things: that software cannot be patented in India, and that software patents

Software Patents in India Explained: What Can and Cannot Be Patented?
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
Sep 05, 2026

Written by: Dr. Ajai Garg and Siddhant Chamola As Artificial Intelligence has now emerged as a disruptive ecosystem reshaping Global economy,  India’s

India’s Pursuit for Global South AI Leadership through Agentic AI Systems: Navigating Intellectual Property Challenges
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
Sep 02, 2026

Author: Lakshmidevi Somanath The law currently provides creators exclusive rights over their creation for a limited time, which gives a human inventor

From Innovation Incentives to Technology Diffusion – Protection of Intellectual Property Created by Agentic Artificial Intelligence