The panda, recognised the world over as the symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has just been saved from a doom of another kind. Justice P K Bahri of the Delhi High Court passed an order on July 11 preventing the Mahavir Spinning Mills Ltd, a thread manufacturing firm in Hoshiarpur, from using the panda logo on its products.

In a civil suit filed by WWF-International earlier this year, counsels Manmohan Singh and Sanjeev Kumar Chaswal contended that the name, logo and artistic device of the panda is a registered WWF trademark in India and the firm using the same logo was violating copyright laws. In '92, when WWF first learnt that its logo was being used by the mill, it initially issued a notice and then took the case to court, seeking an interim injunction forbidding the thread manufacturer from using it. WWF's panda logo, designed in 1961 by Sir Peter Scott, former president of the world's largest NGO, is registered as a trademark in India since '73.