Nepal’s Registered Trademark
Nepal is well known for its finely woven indigenous and unique Pashmina products. To distinguish genuine Nepalese Pashmina from the fake products, Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA) has registered a Collective Trademark in several countries around the world, called ” Chyangra Pashmina “. Care & Crafts is the founder member of this internationally recognized Association.
Pashmina is in such demand that there is a booming counterfeit trade, but Nepal’s traditional shawl makers (weavers) are hitting back using the latest security technology to protect their valued customers and their livelihood. The genuine Pashmina will be authenticated in a laboratory and embedded with nanotechnology that will give each genuine Chyangra Pashmina product a unique identity number stored on a central database.
NPIA has finalised its ‘logo’ for ‘brand identity’ and has embarked on an aggressive worldwide registration program of its trademark to ensure the integrity of this brand and its trademark with a hope that Nepal’s genuine Pashmina will regain its international market, reputation and protect their uninformed customers against the unscrupulous manufacturers that have cropped up in large numbers over a period of time around the world.
The broad marketing objectives are to establish recognition of stringent standards that apply to any Nepalese Pashmina products that claim Pashmina authenticity and to promote and advance the ‘trademark /logo’ as representing these standards. Therefore, if a Pashmina product exported with this ‘logo’ is endorsed by NPIA, then the customer can be assured that the products are genuine Nepalese Pashmina, meeting with the highest industry quality standards.
It is true that counterfeit, fake, imitations, are being sold all over the world in the name of Nepal’s Pashmina. The market has indeed been flooded with variants of the weave, mixed with synthetic yarns, viscose and cheap wool threatening this traditional craft of Nepal.
The traditional Nepalese Pashmina farmers/weavers have been facing tough competition from low-priced blends of synthetic/acrylic yarn, viscose etc., in Pashmina products. The problems faced by the farmers/weavers are the huge price difference, easy availability and lack of consumer knowledge about genuine Pashmina across the world. In recent years Pashmina imitations include any soft synthetic yarn like rayon or viscose.
Unethical traders have been fleecing unwary customers by selling imitation products at the price of genuine Pashmina products. These fakes have been widely traded around the world jeopardizing the exclusivity of Nepal Pashmina over the speciality of genuine ‘Chyangra Pashmina’.