CFAI has put out full-page advertisements in leading dailies with the headline: “A Word of Caution to the Indian Investment Community.” The ad released by CFAI accuses ICFAI of misusing its program leading to Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) ‘designation’. ICFAI, meanwhile, has the claims made by CFAI on the ground that it is an independent university.
The CFAI ad, released in newspapers like The Times of India and The Economic Times, says “There is a confusion over the ‘CFA’ name in India, and you deserve to know the facts. The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from CFA Institute is the only globally recognized CFA designation for financial professionals.” The ad further states, “On 4 August 2006, the Delhi High Court recognized that CFA Institute owns the exclusive rights to the CFA trademarks and that continued use by ICFAI causes irreparable harm. The court ordered an interim injunction requiring ICFAI to stop using the ‘Chartered Financial Analyst’ and ‘CFA’ brands and to change its corporate and ‘CFA’ title names. Unfortunately, ICFAI has continued its unauthorized use of our trademarks by running advertisements from an ICFAI-sponsored university.”
In response to the allegation contained in the CFAI advertisement, ICFAI, in a news release, countered by saying, “The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University is an independent entity created through legislative action by the State of Tripura and approved by UGC under SEC 2 F, mandated by the legislation to offer the CFA program. The University as an independent entity is not a party to trademark dispute with CFA Institute.”
ICFAI further adds, “The advertisement published in The Times of India and The Economic Times contains misstatements intended to confuse the public. The said interim injunction order has not yet come into effect and ICFAI has already appealed against the interim injunction. The case related to interim injunction will come up for hearing before the Bench of the Delhi High Court in March 2007.”
CFAI believes that its international credentials deserve protection in the Indian market too, as evident by the assertion in its ad: “The following should not surprise you: more than 6,600 total enrollments are from India in our CFA program in 2006 -- a growth of almost 500 percent since 2004. There are more than 76,000 CFA charter holders in 125 countries around the world. Only our CFA program -- considered by many to be a ‘gold standard’ -- provide the most rigorous training.”
