Last Month, single judge bench of Justice C Hari Shankar restrained the defendants Khadi Designing Council of India and Miss India Khadi Foundation from using the ‘KHADI’ mark holding that they infringed KVIC’s trademark and also engaged in passing off.

“Resultantly, the defendants as well as all others acting on their behalf shall stand restrained, during the pendency of the suit, from using, directly or indirectly, the mark KHADI, either as a word or as part of its trade name or name of its business concern, as well as from using the impugned marks, or any other mark identical or deceptively similar thereto,” the court ordered.

The Court also noted that the defendants had admittedly used the ‘KHADI’ mark “to designate its activities relating to use, display and promotion…of the Khadi fabric and the Khadi culture” with the activities of KVIC.

“The submissions advanced by the defendants in their defence, therefore, themselves vouchsafe their intent to create an association with the plaintiff KVIC, by using the impugned marks. The fact that the use of the impugned marks by the defendants would lead to an impression of association between the defendants and the plaintiff, therefore, stands conceded by the defendants,” the court said.

The court observed that once the very intent to create an association is acknowledged by the defendants, “the likelihood of inference of such association, thereby, in the minds of the consuming public, and the possibility of confusion thereby, also stands admitted. Section 29(2), thereby, squarely applies, and a prima facie case of infringement, under the said provision, therefore, exists”.

The Counsel member of KVIC, submitted that the right to use the ‘KHADI’ mark for textile products requires the person or organisation to be enlisted as an authorised user of the ‘KHADI’ trademarks for which it has to apply for recognition through the Khadi Institutions Registration and Certification Sewa. 

The KVIC approaches Delhi high court claiming that they became aware of the infringement of their mark in December 2019 when the defendants organised the National Khadi Designers Awards, 2019 and the Miss India Khadi event at Goa, in which they were using the word mark KHADI as well as the charkha logo. The KVIC sent them a legal notice following which the defendants removed the mark and logo from their banners, posters and hoardings.

KVIC also alleged that defendants were falsely claiming to be associated with the PMEGP by providing, on their website, a hyperlink which redirects to the PMEGP page of KVIC.