Govt working to get back our ‘Khadi’ from German firm

Government is working in tandem with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to expedite the process of de-registering ‘Khadi’ trademark in the European Union by a German company, Parliament was informed on Monday.

KVIC has also initiated the process to register ‘Khadi’ trademark in India and internationally. The German company, named Khadi Natureprodukte GbR, has registered ‘Khadi’ as a trademark with the European agency, OHIM (Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market).

Spain-based OHIM is the nodal agency for Trademarks and Design Registration in the European Union. “Indian Embassies abroad have been in touch with the authorities of European Union for cancellation of the registration of Khadi as a trademark,” Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Minister of State Giriraj Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply. The government, KVIC and the Indian Embassies are working in tandem to expedite the process of de-registering the trademark of Khadi, he added.

Singh said the process to register for international trademarks for ‘Khadi’ is being done in two stages - first at national level and second at international level. He added that KVIC has filed an application to register ‘Khadi’ as a word mark under IPR Authority in Mumbai.