The Khadi & Village Industries Commission (‘Commission’) Commission is a statutory body, officially established under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, 1956. It is an apex organization set up under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises seeks to promote and develop the khadi and village industries in the rural regions of India while collaborating with the agencies engaged in rural development. The Commission owns various trademarks and device marks bearing the word ‘KHADI’ in both Hindi and English languages. Along with being a registered proprietor of ‘KHADI’ in an artistic and logo form, it also is a registered proprietor of ‘Charkha Logos’. In addition, it also sells medical care products which include - masks, hand sanitizers, PPE kits, etc under its registered brand ‘Khadi India’.
Mr. Raman Gupta used to sell beauty- care products which include – Hand Sanitizers and PPE Kits under his own brand “KHADI BY HERITAGE”.
Source - Judgement
*We do not claim any copyright in the above images. The same have been used for academic purposes.
The Commission filed an application in the Delhi High Court seeking an ex parte ad interim injunction to restrain Raman Gupta from infringing their various bearing the word ‘KHADI’ as well as the Charkha Logo representing their marks. The Commission contended that manufacturing and selling of medical products and kits by an independent business can be harmful for public at large tending to raise concerns among the consumer market. The Commission further contended that, Raman Gupta sold deceptively similar products in the market which were bound to create confusion in the minds of the public at large.
Source - Judgement
Sanitizers by Khadi by Raman Gupta and Sanitizers sold by Khadi India (Commission)
*We do not claim any copyright in the above images. The same have been used for academic purposes.
The Delhi High Court after hearing the submissions of the Commission, observed that use of the mark ‘KHADI’, especially, for medical products without any quality control is not only violative of the rights of the Commission but also of concern to the interest of the general public as there is no quality supervision. The Court further observed that the Commission had successfully made out a prima facie case and non-grant of an ex parte order could cause enormous damage to the consuming public on a day-to-day basis. In view of the above, the Delhi High Court granted an ex parte ad interim injunction against the Raman Gupta restraining him to use the mark ‘KHADI’ as well as the logo of CHARKHA. Additionally, the Domain registrar (companies that facilitate the purchase and reservations of domain names.) was directed to suspend the domain names https://khadi-by-heritage.business.site/, www.KhadiByHeritage.com and www.KhadiByHeritage.org from its server.
The matter is now listed for hearing on 20th May, 2022.
