Written by Sohini GhoshNew Delhi | September 29, 2025 08:57 PM IST 3 min readThe United States-based Ivy League university had objected to the use of the name by Vagdevi Educational Society, headquartered in Hyderabad, which runs the Princeton School of Education, Princeton School of Engineering and Technology, Princeton Degree and PG College, Princeton PG College of Information Technology, Princeton PG College of Management and Princeton College of Pharmacy. (Express File)Don’t open any more institutes using the name ‘Princeton’: this is what the Delhi High Court has told a Hyderabad-based education society in an appeal by the trustees of Princeton University.The United States-based Ivy League university had objected to the use of the name by Vagdevi Educational Society, headquartered in Hyderabad, which runs the Princeton School of Education, Princeton School of Engineering and Technology, Princeton Degree and PG College, Princeton PG College of Information Technology, Princeton PG College of Management and Princeton College of Pharmacy. According to the institutes, they have been using the name since the last 34 years.The society had justified that it established many colleges and societies with the name “as an ode to the Prince of Hyderabad and his farsightedness”. The society said it “wanted to educate and groom thousands (denoted by the word ton) of Princes and Princesses (denoted by the word Prince) thereby, naming their Colleges- Princeton.” However, the New Jersey-based university had highlighted that the education society, without due cause and without the authorisation of the US varsity, “are unfairly trading upon the reputation and goodwill” of the Ivy League university’s intellectual properties, and that such misuse will not only likely to dilute its distinctive character but also amounts to unfair competition”.In 2022, Princeton University had approached the Delhi High Court in the matter. A single judge in September 2023 had refused to injunct the use of the name, noting that it would be “facile, and plainly unrealistic, to believe that any consumer would confuse the services provided by the defendants with those provided” by Princeton University.A division bench has now, however, held that Princeton University has an established goodwill in the Indian market borne by the very fact that “Indian students are also being targeted by the appellant and are in fact going to the University of the appellant in large numbers”.In an order on September 26 by Justices Navin Chawla and Renu Bhatnagar, the court noted that Princeton University has shown prima facie evidence of establishing its reputation in India since 1911, in contravention to the single judge’s observation that “infraction of the rights of (Princeton University) can take place in various shapes like dilution of its mark, initial interest confusion, and actual confusion.”However, instead of granting ad-interim injunction against the Hyderabad-based educational society’s institutions, the division bench directed Vagdevi Educational Society that it “would not open any new institution using the name ‘Princeton’ as part of the name of such institution,” during the pendency of the suit.Story continues below this adIt also directed the society’s institutions to also maintain complete accounts of all its receipts, and file the same along with an affidavit every six months.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:delhi high courtPrinceton University