The Delhi High Court has directed Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to take down profiles, channels and accounts on their respective platforms, which have been using logos and names deceptively similar to the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak.
The order to take down nearly 30 such profiles stated that “most of the offending names and logos used are infringing in nature.”
The suit was filed by Living Media India Limited, the parent company of India Today Group and owner of the news channel Aaj Tak. It stated that the registered trademark Aaj Tak is well-known and used extensively on social media. The company further added that they their goodwill and reputation is not limited to the Aaj Tak name, but also extends to “various formative marks of the same and other marks that end with the word Tak.”
The suit thus called for an injunction against the profiles on the aforenamed platforms that have been using logos similar to theirs or names derived from Aaj Tak or using Tak as a suffix.
The court passed a John Doe order that the infringing profiles, accounts, videos and channels, which use either identical or deceptively similar names, logos and writing styles as Aaj Tak, be taken down.
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A John Doe order is one aimed at safeguarding the original creator’s intellectual property rights in artistic works like films or music, which is issued against an unknown defendant. In this case, the anonymous profile creators.
The order made an exception only in the case of the name ‘Sach Tak’.
The court further stated that in the event of future profiles or channels mimicking Aaj Tak being created, the same should be taken down within 36 hours of the complainant providing the offending URLs to the platforms in question.
The court has also directed the defendants to file their written statement within 30 days.
The next hearing has been scheduled for August 3.