A tribunal has ruled that Khadi is not a generic name and the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is the legitimate owner of the trade marks ‘Khadi’ and ‘Khadi India’.
In New Delhi, The National Internet Exchange of India Domain Dispute Policy (INDRP) Arbitration Tribunal rejected the contention of a private entity that ‘Khadi’ is a generic word and said use of the popular brand name by any other is likely to create confusion and deception with the goods/services of KVIC.
The order came on a complaint filed by KVIC challenging a domain name www.khadi.in being run by Delhi-based Jitendra Jain and his associates, with the tribunal holding that the domain name in question was registered in ‘bad faith’.
“The impugned domain name is identical and confusingly similar to a named trademark as well as a service mark in which the KVIC has a right,” the arbitrator said.
Further, the tribunal said, “It is an undisputed fact that KVIC, the complainant, is the legitimate owner of the trademark ‘Khadi’/‘Khadi India’ and has acquired ownership in terms of the provisions of Section 17 of the Trade Marks Act 1999.”
“In the opinion of the Tribunal, the impugned domain name (www.khadi.in) is a trademark backed domain name and it not only violates the provisions of the Trade Marks Act 1999, but also violates Clause 4 of the INDPR policy issued by the NIXI,” the arbitrator said.
The Tribunal also instructed the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to take incidental or ancillary action involved in the transfer of the domain name, as directed.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
