MakeMyTrip Trademark Dispute: Delhi HC Restrains Dialmytrip From Using Its Name

The Delhi High Court has issued a restraining order against Dialmytrip, prohibiting the use of its name in connection with tours, travel, hospitality, and related services. The company is also required to cease using the domain name www.dialmytrip.com for travel-related services, including tours, hospitality, hotel cabs, and other relevant offerings, as per Medianama.

This legal restriction follows a case initiated by MakeMyTrip, an online travel company, seeking an injunction against Dialmytrip to prevent the use of the name ‘Dialmytrip’ and the domain names ‘www.dialmytrip.com’ and ‘www.dmtgroup.in‘.

According to the court order, Dialmytrip initially focused on providing financial services before expanding into tours and travel. In March 2020, the company applied for the trademark DMT (Your Business Buddy) under its corporate name Dialmytrip. MakeMyTrip became aware of Dialmytrip in May 2023 and promptly issued a cease and desist letter.

Responding to the letter, Dialmytrip in July 2023 stated that it has been primarily involved in banking, insurance, and investment allied services since 2015. 

The company emphasised that its engagement in tour and travel services was minimal, constituting only about 0.8% of its total turnover in the 12 months ending March 2023. The company argued that it would be inaccurate to say that Dialmytrip was offering overlapping services that impacted MakeMyTrip.

It also highlighted that it had its own registered brand name ‘DMT’, the abbreviation of Dial My Trip, under class 39 of the trademark for tour and travel arrangements. It argued that because of this registration, it had an “exclusive right to commercially exploit the word of “DMT” in public either through an ecommerce platform or any other manner.”

However, the Delhi High Court deemed the names of MakeMyTrip and Dialmytrip “confusingly similar”, particularly in the context of online travel business. The court expressed concerns that Dialmytrip’s name might be perceived as an extension or affiliate of MakeMyTrip, posing a risk of “irreparable loss” to the well-known company. 

While acknowledging Dialmytrip’s involvement in financial, banking, and insurance services, as well as its trademarked brand ‘DMT’, the court deferred a detailed examination to a later date. The case is set to be heard again on March 22, 2024.

Established in 2015, Dialmytrip is a mid-sized fintech company with a presence in key Indian cities like Delhi, Noida, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Ranchi. It offers financial inclusion services, travel services, utility payments, insurance, and more.

This is not the first time that  MakeMyTrip has been involved in such disputes. Earlier, it accused EaseMyTrip of trademark infringement. In 2022, the Delhi High Court directed Booking.com and Google to refrain from using MakeMyTrip’s trademarked words as keywords. 

In recent times, a number of new-age tech companies have dragged enterprises with similar names to courts over trademark infringement. While Zomato-owned Blinkit was involved in a legal battle with Blinkhit, the Delhi High Court last month rejected Policybazaar’s plea to prevent Coverfox and Acko from using keywords identical to its trademarks on Google’s AdWords Program.