The District Judge (Commercial Court No. 1), Saket Courts, New Delhi has granted an interim injunction in the case titled as Swami Vidyanand v/s Cristiana Amodei Chiarello & Others, CS (COMM) 317 of 2025 restraining the defendants from using the ‘Yoga Alliance’ and ‘Yoga Alliance International’ trademarks or any deceptively similar trademarks.
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
The plaintiff- Swami Vidyanand, approached the Commercial Court seeking protection of his registered trademarks ‘Yoga Alliance’ and ‘Yoga Alliance International’ which have been used since 2005 for training, certification, and international outreach in the yoga sector. The plaintiff holds more than 20 valid trademark registrations in India.
The dispute arose after the plaintiff claimed that the primary defendant No. 1 continued to operate various websites, social media pages, and digital platforms using identical or confusingly similar names, even though an ‘Italian Court had earlier ruled in favor of the plaintiff’ and directed the Defendant No. 1 to cease all infringing activities.
Despite the Italian judgment, the Defendant No. 1 allegedly continued targeting ‘Indian yoga students and yoga schools’, resulting in loss of business and damage to the brand’s goodwill in India.
COURT OBSERVATIONS
After reviewing the evidence, including website extracts, social media posts, online event promotions, and the previous Italian judgment, the Court found that:
- The plaintiff has a prima facie case, supported by valid Trademark registrations.
- The defendants’ use of identical marks could mislead consumers and result in passing off.
- Continued use of the infringing marks would cause irreparable loss, harming the brand reputation and market value built by the plaintiff.
- The balance of convenience lies in favor of the plaintiff.
The Court also discussed at length the role of digital intermediaries such as domain registrars and social media platforms, noting that they are required to disable infringing URLs once they receive a valid court order.
INJUNCTION ORDER
On 6 Dec, 2025, the Court ordered the following key directions:
- Defendants No. 1–5 and all persons acting on their behalf are restrained from using ‘Yoga Alliance and any similar marks as trade name, domain name, social media account name, hashtag, or meta-tag
- Defendants No. 6–9 (including domain registrars and social media platforms) is directed to take down or block all URLs listed in the plaint that use or promote the infringing marks.
- For URLs hosted outside India, platforms must ensure that the content is ‘geo-blocked’ making it inaccessible to users from India.
- If the plaintiff discovers any ‘additional infringing URLs’, the Court has allowed the plaintiff to notify platforms and file an affidavit for removal, ensuring continued protection during the pendency of the suit.
Mark Shield was pleased to assist the plaintiff.
