KVIC restrains beauty pageants and businesses from using Khadi trademark

Ruling in favor of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the Delhi High Court has restrained beauty pageants and other business activities from using the brand name ‘Khadi’ until the next hearing.KVIC had appealed to prevent Khadi Design Council of India’ and the ‘Miss India Khadi Foundation’ from illegally using the brand name ‘Khadi’ and deceiving people. The court ruled in an ex-parte order that the two names were ‘deceptively similar’to KVIC and thus were violations of the Khadi trademark.

The court has ordered the Khadi Design Council of India and Miss India Khadi Foundation to take down all of their social media accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube until next hearing. It also ordered these platforms to take down infringing content on their websites and e-commerce sites. KVIC had alleged that the defendants had wilfully misled people into believing that both entities were affiliated with KVIC when they are not.

According to KVIC, the Khadi Design Council of India was charging Rs 2,000 ($27.49) to people in exchange for a ‘Khadi Certification’. The Miss India Khadi Foundation claimed to be affiliated with the KVIC Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program on its website which is not the case, it said,