In a high-profile trademark clash in the hospitality sector, Impressario Entertainment, the company running popular cafe chains such as Odeon Social, Colaba Social and various other “Social” branded outlets across India since 2014, succeeded in getting the Delhi High Court to cancel Vardhaman Choksi’s registered mark “Social House” for restaurant services. Impressario had argued that Choksi never genuinely used “Social House” for actual restaurants or related services in the registered class, even though he claimed prior use since 2011 for hosting events at his Mumbai club Escobar. Choksi countered that “Social” is a common everyday word that no one can monopolise and that any non-use was due to ongoing litigation, but the court found Impressario had built strong goodwill and actual business under its family of “Social” marks while Choksi failed to show genuine use in the correct class and appeared to follow a pattern of registering well-known marks without real commercial activity. The judge ruled that “Social” in the restaurant context is suggestive rather than generic for Impressario’s business and that Choksi could not claim special circumstances to excuse the lack of use. As a result the court ordered “Social House” removed from the trademark register and dismissed all of Choksi’s multiple petitions seeking to cancel Impressario’s various “Social” registrations.
Title: IMPRESSARIO ENTERTAINMENT AND HOSPITALITY PVT. LTD. v. VARDHAMAN CHOKSI AND ORS. AND CONNECTED MATTERS, Order date: 10.04.2026, Case Number: C.A.(COMM.IPD-TM) 12/2023 & Connected C.O.(COMM.IPD-TM) 72/2021, 93/2021, 96/2021, 98/2021, 194/2021, 212/2021, 264/2021, 269/2021, 283/2021, 333/2021, 406/2021, 47/2022, 135/2022, 150/2022, 152/2022, 197/2022, 200/2022, 254/2022, 259/2022, 284/2022, 552/2022 & 681/2022, Neutral Citation: not provided, Name of court: High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, Judge: Justice Tejas Karia.
Disclaimer: Donot treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain subjective errors.
Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
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