How Snitch Apparels Used IP and Compliance to Scale a ₹520 Crore Brand

If you’ve scrolled Instagram’s fashion reels in the past few years, chances are you’ve stumbled across Snitch. Founded by Siddharth Dungarwal, Snitch started its life in B2B apparel, supplying garments to retailers and local chains. But somewhere along the way, the brand vision shifted: make stylish Indian menswear in a D2C (direct to consumer) format, faster and more responsive than legacy brands.

On Shark Tank India (Season 2), Siddharth walked in with that vision. He asked for ₹1.5 crore for 1.5% equity (valuing Snitch at about ₹100 crore) and won over all five sharks in a rare “all-shark” deal. That wasn’t just about numbers but about promise, clarity, and brand edge.

What made Snitch apparels stand out? For one, it wasn’t just another clothing brand chasing trends. It offered fast, drop-based collections, attention to streetwear aesthetics, and a clean digital presence. It spoke to millennials and Gen Z men who wanted to look good without waiting for seasonal cycles. In a cluttered menswear market, that agility was its USP.

Intellectual Property (IP) Portfolio

Designs may come and go in fashion, but your name and signature style are your real assets. Snitch understood this early and moved to protect its identity.

Trademark Registrations

Here’s a snapshot of what we know:

Word Mark	Application No.	Class	Filing Date	Proprietor	Status / Validity	Description
SNITCH	2950360	25	24/04/2015	Mr. Siddharth R. Dungarwal	Registered until 24/04/2035 (per renewal)	Readymade garments, clothing, knitwear, accessories, etc.
Snitch Plus Device	6820081	25	24/01/2025	Snitch Apparels Pvt. Ltd.	Formalities Check Pass (under exam)	Clothing, knitwear, etc.
Snitch Luxe Device	6820082	25	24/01/2025	Snitch Apparels Pvt. Ltd.	Formalities Check Pass	Premium clothing line extension
SNITCH LUXE	6820084	25	24/01/2025	Snitch Apparels Pvt. Ltd.	Formalities Check Pass	Clothing, footwear, headwear

The core mark “SNITCH” filed in 2015 is the foundation. As the brand has expanded, it filed additional marks for brand extensions like Snitch Plus and Snitch Luxe, to conserve future territory before it becomes contested.

Copyrights & Designs

Beyond trademarks, Snitch also owns copyrights in its lookbooks, marketing creatives, digital content, images, design, and more. And while fashion designs are tricky to patent as they often lack novelty, design registration is possible in case of distinctive cuts, prints, or packaging elements. Many companies in fast fashion shy away from this, but having that option adds defensive strength.

Why IP Matters for Snitch

Brand identity is brittle in a world of rapid counterfeiting and replicas. Others cannot use the “SNITCH” name for their clothing lines. As they risk running into legal action due to Snitch’s trademarks. That is essential for maintaining the brand’s value and long-term consumer recognition. When investors look at a fashion brand, a strong IP portfolio is often one of the first filters.

The Invisible Threads: The Business Agreements That Keep Snitch Stitching

While we see the slick Instagram ads and the trendy designs, let us know what we don’t see. That is the intricate web of legal agreements that hold a fast-fashion brand like Snitch together. Think of these contracts not as boring paperwork, but as the essential blueprints that ensure the right fabric arrives on time, the app doesn’t crash during a sale, and your favourite jacket is delivered to your doorstep. This legal framework is the unseen engine that powers Snitch’s style machine. Let’s take a closer look at the agreements that probably drive their business:

Supplier & Manufacturing Contracts

This is where it all begins. Before a shirt gets its tag, Snitch needs to secure high-quality fabrics, zippers, and other trims. These contracts with suppliers are like detailed recipes. They lock in everything from the exact shade of “midnight blue” and the thread count of the cotton to delivery schedules and, crucially, quality control standards. A single batch of subpar material can ruin an entire collection, so these agreements are their first line of defence.

Distribution & Retail Agreements

As Snitch expands from a pure online player into physical retail with its own “Snitch” stores and partnerships with multi-brand outlets, these contracts become vital. They are the rulebooks for how their brand is presented to the world. They dictate everything. From which store gets which designs and at what margin, to who handles customer returns and how the brand’s premium image is maintained on the shop floor.

Employment Contracts

Everyone is subject to explicit employment contracts. From the tech experts to the creative designers, to the marketing team, and even the employees who assist customers in-store. These documents do more than just state a salary; they protect Snitch’s secret sauce with confidentiality clauses and ensure that the innovative ideas born within the company stay within the company.

Service Agreements

Snitch’s success isn’t accidental. It’s supported through a network of partners governed by service agreements. These include the ad agencies that build campaigns, the influencers who promote products, the logistics giants that ensure delivery, and the e-commerce marketplaces that host their storefronts. Each agreement outlines the scope, the payment, and the expectations, ensuring every touchpoint with a customer is on-brand.

Lease Agreements

That cool, industrial-chic Snitch store in your city? It exists because of a meticulously negotiated lease agreement. The same goes for their warehouses, which are the beating heart of their delivery promise, and their design studios, where creativity flows. These contracts secure their physical footprint in the real world.

Shareholder & Investor Agreements

The landmark deal on Shark Tank and their subsequent Series B funding didn’t just involve handing over a cheque. They were formalized through complex Shareholders’ Agreements (SHAs). This is the main agreement between Snitch and its investors. It ensures that everyone is on the same page. It mainly regulates the decision-making process, how profits might be distributed, and the strategy for a future exit.

A missed deadline or a quality error can have disastrous consequences in the fast-paced fashion industry. These agreements are what keep everything running smoothly and guarantee that your favourite brand will continue to provide the quality and style you have come to expect, year after year.

Due Diligence: Deep Dive

This is the real deal. When investors or their legal teams investigate, they want to know if the brand promises are genuine or merely empty rhetoric. Due diligence in Snitch’s case would examine:

Corporate Ownership & Verification

• Validate Snitch Apparels Pvt. Ltd.’s Karnataka registration (CIN: U18109KA2022PTC163969).
• Verify that the founder’s ownership versus investor dilution is accurately recorded.
• Examine board resolutions, balance sheets, and ROC filings.

IP Audit

• Verify that SNITCH (2950360) has an active and renewed registration status.
• Verify the remaining exam marks, like Snitch Luxe and Snitch Plus.
• Check for any resistance or disputes with previous brands.
• Verify that brand extensions don’t violate already-existing trademarks.

Regulatory & Compliance

• Fashion brands must follow labour laws, minimum wages, PF, ESIC, etc.
• GST registration and timely returns.
• Compliance with textile export norms, if any cross-border sales.
• Consumer protection laws: like refund policy, disclaimers, etc.

Contracts & Supply Chain Risk

• Evaluate supplier agreements for over-dependency. If one supplier fails, does the brand collapse?
• Check whether agreements protect against intellectual property misuse (e.g., a supplier selling designs).
• Review franchise/store agreements for ambiguous terms or unfair exit clauses.

Financial and Growth Data Integrity

• For FY24, Snitch’s operating revenue surged to ₹243 crore (from ~₹106.6 cr in FY23).A growth of ~127.9%.
• Net profit for FY24 was ~₹4.4 crore, up from ~₹3.1 crore the previous year.
• In FY25, preliminary reports suggest they crossed ~₹520 crore in revenue.
• Check the expense structure. In FY24, expenses jumped ~132% to ₹236.1 cr from ₹101.7 cr.

Risk Assessment & Mitigation

• Are there any pending IP infringement suits or allegations of copying?
• If stores or franchise agreements have exit issues or a suboptimal revenue share. Contingency plans if supply chain disruption occurs.
• For investors, this due diligence is not just a checkbox; it’s a way to spot hidden minefields.

A fashion brand may look shiny, but a bad supplier contract, unregistered IP, or unpaid taxes can destroy value overnight. Snitch, by building defensively, positions itself as not just a trend brand but a sustainable one.

Key Legal & Business Lessons

Snitch’s trajectory offers several deeper takeaways (beyond the obvious “get investors”):

1. IP First, Product Later

Many fashion start-ups invest in inventory or marketing first, then scramble for trademarks. Snitch filed its key trademark in 2015, long before it became a high-growth D2C brand. That early IP stake gives them legal breathing room.

2. Protect Brand Extensions

As soon as you launch sub-brands (e.g., Snitch Plus, Luxe), protect them before they become valuable. This prevents others from registering similar marks later.

3. Contracts Scale Trust

In the early days, brand founders sometimes rely on informal supplier relationships. For growth, every link must be contractually secure quality standards, delivery timelines, and penalties. Otherwise, brand reputation (which is fragile in fashion) can erode quickly.

4. Transparency Builds Investor Credibility

When you show clean books, legal IP filings, and risk mitigation, investors see you as someone who treats the business seriously and not someone winging it. That’s why Snitch got major funding like ₹340 cr Series B at ~₹2,500 cr valuation.

5. Adapt, But Legally

Snitch pivoted from B2B to D2C, but didn’t leave any legal gaps behind. It expanded operations, branding, and supply lines while continuing to update compliance, contracts, and IP. Growth without legal foundations can crumble fast and easily.

Conclusion

Snitch’s story is more than just a fashion success; it’s a lesson in how law, business strategy, and brand vision must evolve together. From a core trademark filed in 2015 to reaching ₹520 crore in revenue within a few years, the brand has ridden waves of trend and risk.

For founders, the message is clear: don’t treat legal groundwork as an afterthought. Protect your brand first, scale second. That’s how a fashion label survives the fast, fierce world of copycats and shifting trends.

Author Details- Apoorva Lamba (3rd Year Student, Madhav Mahavidyalya, Jiwaji University, Gwalior)