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CFA Institute and ICFAI University patch upThe institutes have reached an agreement to withdraw all pending court proceedings in the 15-yr dispute.
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What's the ICFAI University officially says about it
Settlement Agreement with CFA Institute, USA
Icfai is pleased to announce that on May 25, 2012, it amicably resolved its worldwide dispute with CFA Institute. The agreement will allow the parties to peacefully coexist and pursue their respective business objectives. Icfai will continue to operate under the Icfai brand but will begin phasing out its offering of the CFA designation over the next seven years. To ensure the continuity and success of our current offerings, students who are currently enrolled in the program will be eligible to receive a CFA designation from Icfai. Icfai will advise its existing alumni and students to use the terminology “CFA (Icfai)” to help distinguish themselves from CFA Institute’s charterholders.
Icfai’s mission is to provide the highest quality education and training to its students. Both parties are pleased that the litigation is over, and expect that the professionals affiliated with each organization will treat each other with courtesy and respect. We hope that you will join us in promoting a harmonious relationship with CFA Institute.
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What's the CFA Institute officially says
about it
CFA Institute Resolves Dispute with ICFAI
CFA Institute is pleased to announce that on May 25, 2012, it amicably resolved its worldwide dispute with the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (“Icfai”). The agreement will allow the parties to peacefully coexist and pursue their respective business objectives. Icfai will continue to operate under the Icfai brand; students currently enrolled in the program will be eligible to receive a CFA degree from Icfai, but Icfai otherwise is no longer offering the CFA program to new students. Icfai also will advise its existing alumni and students to use the terminology “CFA (Icfai)” to help distinguish themselves from CFA Institute’s charterholders.
As you know, CFA Institute’s mission is to promote the highest standards of ethics and professionalism. Both parties are pleased that the litigation is over, and expect that the professionals affiliated with each organization will treat each other with courtesy and respect. We hope that you will join us in promoting a harmonious relationship with Icfai.
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TRADEMARK DISPUTES CFAI vs ICFAI
TRADEMARK DISPUTES CFAI vs ICFAI
Here is the details of
what's the dispute running between the CFA Institute and ICFAI University earlier
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The CFA program was first delivered through AIMR in
the USA and later in India with the partnership of the then Institute of
Certified Financial Analysts
The ICFA and AIMR came together in 1990 to have a
common uniform curriculum and bring all the societies under one umbrella. ICFAI
had brought out its academic curriculum to suit Indian finance professionals,
though it had global content. ICFAI wanted to function independently and had
established working relationships with the European Federation of Financial
Analysts (EFFAS) and the ASAF (Asian Securities Analysts Federation) with
regard to development of the Profession of Security Analysts and its course
content. ICFAI also wanted to bring its CFA as an Indian Statutory Charter. All
this led to the dispute with AIMR, the parent body of CFA Institute which
wanted a uniform curriculum or body of Knowledge throughout the world for CFA
program whereas ICFAI wanted changes in CFA charter to suit Indian regulations
as finance professional used to work in an extremely regulated capital markets.
AIMR eventually broke its working relationship with ICFAI and CCFA.
1. In 1998 a United States District Court issued an
injunction that prohibits ICFAI's use of all CFA Institute trademarks and
confusingly similar trademarks in the United States and Canada. Although ICFAI
challenged that order in late 2006, the injunction remains in place.
In August 2006, the Delhi high court issued a
temporary injunction against the Indian organization from using the CFA in
India. The judgments made no assessment of the quality of the Indian program
and merely discussed the trademark violation.
2. On May 8, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia, vacated a Default Judgment issued against ICFAI
that the CFA Institute (formerly AIMR) obtained in October, 1998. ICFAI
recently moved to reopen the case and to vacate the Default Judgment because
the Court lacked jurisdiction over ICFAI at the time the Default Judgment
issued. Recognizing the merits of the ICFAI arguments, the Court vacated the
October, 1998 Default Judgment.
3. With the Default Judgment vacated, ICFAI informed
all its CFA charter holders that its earlier communication on not using the CFA
charter in U.S. and Canada is treated as withdrawn.
4. However, on September 4, 2007, the US District
Court for the Eastern District of Virginia reversed its decision to vacate the
1998 injunction against ICFAI after a motion to reconsider that decision was
filed by the CFA institute.
5. The Delhi High Court rejected the CFA Institute's
appeal against operating in India, the reason being CFA Institute did not have
approval from AICTE. The verdict was delivered on 15 December 2007.
On 27 May 2008, The Delhi High Court allowed the CFA
Institute to conduct examinations in India scheduled on 8 June. This is an
interim order on a petition by the CFA Institute challenging the single bench
order disallowing it from conducting examinations in India.
While making it clear that further enrollment by the
Institute will be done with the approval of the court, the bench comprising
Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said: "Prima facie, the All
India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Act is not applicable (to CFA
Institute)."
In 2007 AICTE, India's governing body in technical
education concluded that CFA Institute had not obtained its approval to conduct
the CFA Program in India and must cease all operations in India.
