South Bombay’s iconic 114-year-old Taj Mahal Palace has just got itself trademarked, making this 114-year-old building India’s first to get such a registration. The Taj Mahal Palace has now joined the exclusive, elite club of trademarked properties in the world – alongside the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Australia’s Sydney Opera House.

Usually, logos, brand names, combination of colours, numerals and even sounds are trademarked but the registration of an architectural design has never been attempted since the Trademark Act came into force in 1999.

Rajendra Misra, General Counsel of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which manages the Taj Mahal Palace said that the trademark was procured to protect the distinctiveness of the building. This property is the flagship of the company contributing a significant portion to its Rs. 2,391 Crore revenues. With IHCL trademarking the building, the Taj Mahal Palace’s images cannot be used for commercial purposes, without paying the company a licensing fee.

The Taj Mahal Palace which was built in 1903 even before the Gateway of India, acted as a triangulation point for the Indian Navy to show way towards the harbour. During World War I, the property, constructed by Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, was converted into a hospital. The unique red-tiled florentine gothic dome which crowns the Indo-Saracenic arches and architraves of the hotel became a symbol of the 2008-terror attacks in Mumbai after images of it being engulfed in smoke broke in the media.