After Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement, the Delhi High Court issued an interim order preventing two private entities from using the KHADI trademark to host pageants and other events.
The planning, promotion, organization, and implementation of programs for the development of Khadi and other village industries in rural areas are the responsibilities of the KVIC, a Central government body.
Justice C. Hari Shankar ruled that the two companies, Miss India Khadi Foundation and Khadi Design Council of India, violated the KHADI trademark and engaged in passing off.
The Court stipulated, “Consequently, the defendants and all others acting on their behalf shall stand restrained, during the pendency of the suit, from using the impugned marks or any other mark identical or deceptively similar thereto, as well as from using the impugned marks or any other mark identical or deceptively similar thereto.”
It additionally controlled the litigants from working any online entertainment page including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or from mirroring their site the KHADI mark.
When the defendants organized the National Khadi Designers Awards, 2019 and the Miss India Khadi event in Goa in December 2019, when they were using the word mark KHADI in addition to the logo, KVIC informed the High Court that they became aware of infringement of their mark.
After receiving a legal notice, the defendants removed the mark and logo from their hoardings, banners, and posters.
However, they later discovered that the defendants had violated their KHADI and Charkha trademarks in a variety of other ways.
The defendants argued that every person associated with Khadi would acquire intellectual property rights to the term “Khadi.” They stated that the Khadi mark cannot be taken solely by the KVIC due to its public juris status.
Additionally, it was argued that the designers associated with the defendants only purchased clothing or fabric from authorized KVIC outlets and that the defendants are not involved in the manufacturing, weaving, or sale of any Khadi fabric.
The Court decided, after considering the case, that the defendants’ use of the word “Khadi” and a number of the disputed marks does constitute infringement under Sections 29(2) and (4) of the Trade Marks Act.
Additionally, the Court ruled that the defendants attempted to misrepresent their services as being associated with KVIC.
“The defendants have presented the case that they are sourcing fabric produced by the plaintiff and bearing the plaintiff’s marks from authorized outlets and stockists, and that they are putting the fabrics on display, including by using them in designer clothing, beauty pageants, and other similar events. As a result, the intention to link the plaintiff’s actions to those of the defendants is not only obvious but also admitted. The Court stated, “inasmuch as the plaintiff has granted no authority, whatsoever, to the defendant to do so, these attempts amount, prima facie, to passing off, by the defendants, of their services as those of the plaintiff or, at the very least, drawing an association between the two.” This is because the plaintiff has not granted the defendant any authority to do so.
As a result, on May 16, it listed the case for further consideration and issued an interim order in the plaintiff’s favour.
Shwetasree Majumder, Devyani Nath, and Archita Nigam all made representations on behalf of the KVIC.
Advocates Sachin Mintri and Jatin Sharma acted for the defendants.
By: – Yuvraj Sachdeva, BA+LLB (2nd Semester), RNB Global University
0 Comments