Khadi board takes Fabindia to court for trademark violation

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Jun 15, 2018

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has filed a case against leading ethnic retailer for allegedly illegally using its trademark 'Charkha' and using the 'Khadi' tag and sought compensation of Rs 525 crore (approx $77.3 million).
 

KVIC in January this year had sent a legal notice to Fab India instructing them to cease and desist immediately from displaying charkha or using selling products bearing the charkha or khadi mark or any similar mark on goods and use/ sell products bearing the word/ mark khadi or any similar mark whatsoever or howsoever related to khadi.
 
Fabindia had countered that by stating that the claims made in the notice as baseless and allegedly continued trademark violations which has now forced KVIC, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises to finally initiate legal proceedings to settle the dispute in the Bombay High Court.

Law firm Kochhar & Co which will be representing KVIC, has asked Fabindia to pay monetary damages for the loss of profit earned by the company by using the ‘Khadi’ trademark and the Khadi mark, leading daily Times of India reported.
 
When contacted, a Fabindia spokesperson told TOI, “We are not in receipt of any communication on the said matter and, therefore, any comment at this stage would be premature and highly speculative.”
 
KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said, “The agency is keen to protect its reputation and would take stringent measures against all those who violated rules and regulations that have been framed for the benefit of rural artisans attached to it.”