Lombok hotel trademark disputes

Six Continents Hotels Inc., the US hotel operator which owns the trademark HOLIDAY INN sought to cancel the trademark HOLIDAY RESORT LOMBOK (see left trademark) owned by PT Lombok Seaside Cottage. Having failed at first instance they appealed to the Supreme Court, but on March 12, 2012 the Supreme Court refused the appeal. The reason for failure of the case was, according to the court a lack of similarity between the two marks. The reason for failure of the case was, according to the court a lack of similarity between the two marks.

IP Komodo has in fact slithered past this hotel and noted the sign before. There are no details of the precise marks owned by Six Continents in Indonesia, but the attached one on Google is probably the closest. However Holiday Inn as a brand is used in many formats so possibly this is not registered.

Of course there is another question whether anyone should be able to register a mark HOLIDAY RESORT LOMBOK in a tourist destination like Indonesia!