Misuse of KHADI trademark, Charkha logo cannot be condoned: Delhi High Court grants 10 lakh damages

The Delhi High Court recently awarded damages to the tune of ₹10 lakh and costs of ₹2 lakh in favour of the Khadi & Village Industries Commission, after finding that a brand called 'Khadi by Heritage' had infringed upon its registered trademark. (Khadi & Village Industries Commission v. Raman Gupta & Ors).After examining the images of the products marketed by Khadi by Heritage, Justice Pratibha Singh held,"This Court is of the opinion that the Plaintiff, being the registered owner of the trademark ‘KHADI’ and its variants, since the year 2014 with the user claim of 1956 in several classes in Hindi and English, is entitled to protection of the said mark. Even the ‘Charkha Logo’, depicted hereinabove, was adopted by the Plaintiff in the year 1956 and has been used extensively on the products and services provided by the Plaintiff.".Therefore, the Court noted that the sale of PPE kits, masks, hand sanitisers, fireballs, etc by Khadi by Heritage, using the Charkha logo, would amount to causing irreparable loss to the the plaintiff."Such misuse of the Plaintiff’s mark ‘KHADI’ cannot be condoned by the Court, inasmuch as the mark and the name, as also, the logo, have been identically used by the Defendants. The use by the Defendants is deliberate, conscious and mala fide in nature...".The Court thus granted a decree of permanent injunction restraining the defendants from manufacturing or selling any goods or services bearing the name 'Khadi by Heritage' or any other marks/logos identical or deceptively similar to the KHADI trademark and the Charkha logo..Justice Singh also noted that the defendants had registered several domain names containing the KHADI mark and applied for registration of the Khadi by Heritage mark. In this context, it was held,"In view of the decree passed today, all the Defendant’s trademarks mentioned above shall stand rejected by the Registrar of Trade Marks...".The Khadi & Village Industries Commission had filed a suit for damages and permanent injunction against the defendants for using the KHADI trademark to market their products.It was contended that the defendants claimed to be manufacturers of organic, natural and eco-friendly cosmetics and allied products, which were extensively used by consumers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was further argued that the use of the KHADI trademark, especially in relation to medical products, raises enormous concerns in respect of the quality of these products, apart from violating the plaintiff's rights.In March this year, the High Court had agreed with this submission, and passed an interim injunction restraining the defendants from using the mark and the logo for their products..Advocates Shwetasree Majumdar and Diva Arora appeared for the Khadi & Village Industries Commission..[Read order]