Vadodara’s snack war turns bitter: Historic ‘Jagdish’ brand files FIR over digital clone
A fierce trademark feud surrounding Vadodara's famous 'Jagdish' farsan brand has taken a fresh twist after the police booked two rivals under criminal charges for allegedly cloning the historic 1938 establishment's official website.
3 min readVadodaraUpdated: Aug 3, 2026 10:07 PM IST
The Vadodara police have registered an FIR in the Jagdish Farshan trademark dispute over allegations of website cloning, copyright infringement and cheating (Image generated using AI).
For nearly nine decades, the name ‘Jagdish’ has been synonymous with Vadodara’s world-famous savoury snacks. But behind these crunchy, iconic farsan lies a fierce, long-running trademark war, one that has now moved from civil courtrooms to a criminal case over alleged digital piracy.
On July 31, the Sayajigunj police in Vadodara registered an FIR against two business partners, who also run a shop by the name of Jagdish, following a criminal complaint lodged by Kamlesh Kandoi, a partner at the historic Shree Jagdish Farshan.
In the complaint, the Kandoi family stated that they have built substantial goodwill over the decades. They claimed the accused illegally duplicated their website, copying branding, imagery, and proprietary content, to launch a deceptively similar online portal aimed at stealing customer loyalty and passing off their enterprise as the original one running since 1938.
The complaint further alleged that the Shahs, who share no historical ties to the founding family, deliberately deployed a cloned domain to mislead customers and dilute the original business’s reputation. It also claimed that the accused used the disputed identity while dealing with other companies, causing reputational and commercial harm to the complainant’s firm.
“While the dispute over the trademark and name remains a civil matter, the criminality in this specific case stems from the blatant theft of data,” said advocate Hitesh Gupta, representing the complainant.
“The accused systematically copied my client’s visual identity and data to construct a duplicate website, causing direct financial loss.”
The accused operate their own snack outlet using a variation of the ‘Jagdish’ brand at the Iscon Janmahal commercial complex outside the Vadodara railway station. The original Kandoi-run establishment also operates a flagship outlet at the same location, just a few metres away.
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The Sayajigunj police booked the two accused businessmen under criminal charges of cheating involving property, alongside Copyright Act violations for criminal copyright infringement and falsification of records.
As police investigations get underway, the accused duo could not be reached for comment.
Police Inspector Dipti Gamara of the Sayajigunj police station told The Indian Express, “It was evident that the accused had copied not just the logo and the images of the original website but also duplicated the content describing the history and family legacy of Jagdish Farshan, right from its founders to the expansion of their business… After the FIR was lodged the copy-website has been deactivated by the accused.”
Gamara added that the accused have been issued notice to join the investigations to record their statements. “We have issued notice as per procedure and summoned them to record the statements. However, they are yet to respond to the police notice… If they fail to comply, we will take the appropriate action.”
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Gamara added that although the logo at the physical shop is different from that of the complainant, the investigation deals with unauthorised misuse of the original brand’s identity and legacy.
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
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