Delhi High Court Declares “SOCIAL” A Well-Known Trademark, Bars Rival Café From Using “The Shake Social”
Ayushi Shukla
10 Jan 2026 4:33 PM IST
The Delhi High Court has declared Impresario Entertainment's “SOCIAL” mark a well-known trademark in India and barred a Gujarat-based café from using the name “The Shake Social.”
Justice Tejas Karia passed the order on January 9, 2026, in a trademark infringement and passing-off suit against a café operating in Valsad and Navsari, Gujarat.
Granting permanent injunctive relief in favour of Impresario, the Court observed, “A clear case of infringement of the Plaintiff's Marks is made out. The Defendant has taken unfair advantage of the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiff's Marks and has also deceived the unwary consumers into believing their association with the Plaintiff by dishonestly adopting the Impugned without any plausible explanation.”
Impresario told the court that it has been running restaurants and bars under the “SOCIAL” brand since 2014 and has expanded to over 55 outlets across India. It said that the company acquired substantial goodwill and brand recognition over the years.
The impresario told the court that in 2022, it discovered that the Gujarat café was using the name “The Shake Social” while offering similar food and beverage services. It further added that the Shake Social was found promoting itself on platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, and social media.
According to Impresario, this was likely to mislead customers into believing that the café was associated with its brand.
The court noted that despite being served, the rival café owner did not appear in the proceedings. Upon examining the material on record, the court held that the continued use of “The Shake Social” was likely to cause confusion among consumers and amounted to an attempt to unfairly capitalize on the goodwill built by the SOCIAL brand.
While declaring the mark “SOCIAL” as a well-known trademark under Section 2(1)(zg) of the Trade Marks Act, the court observed that the brand has achieved substantial recognition in the hospitality industry through long and continuous use, significant promotional investment, nationwide presence and consistent enforcement of its rights before courts.
Consequently, the court restrained the Gujarat café from using the disputed name or any other mark deceptively similar to “SOCIAL.”
Case Title: Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. v. M/S The Shake Social Through Its Proprietor
Citation: 2026 LLBiz HC (DEL) 29
Case Number: CS(COMM) 121/2025
For Plaintiff: Advocates Shikha Sachdeva, Kriti Rathi & Annie Jacob