New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued a permanent injunction favouring Aaj Tak against various YouTube channels and social media handles that were found to be using marks deceptively similar to the registered trademark of the news channel.
Justice C Hari Shankar, presiding over the case, ruled in favour of Living Media India Limited, the entity behind the news channel “Aaj Tak.”
The court’s order permanently restrained several entities from using the “Aaj Tak” mark and its derivative forms without authorisation.
Aaj Tak’s contention was that these YouTube channels and social media handles were infringing upon its registered trademark by employing the “Aaj Tak” mark and its various derivatives without consent.
The entities that have been permanently restrained include Aabtak News Channel, Rajasthan Tak, Aap Tak, Haryana Tak, Samay Tak News, Kal Tak, Ab Tak TV News, among others.
Justice Shankar noted that since the 25 defendants in question used the suffix “Tak” in services identical to those offered by the news channel, these marks were prima facie infringing upon Aaj Tak’s registered trademark.
Consequently, the court issued a decree of permanent injunction, restraining these defendants from using marks confusingly or deceptively similar to “Aaj Tak” for running online channels or related goods and services.
Moreover, five other defendants who operated a website, YouTube channel, and social media accounts with the mark “Sach Tak News” argued that Aaj Tak could not claim exclusivity over the “Tak” suffix since it had not been separately registered.
However, Justice Shankar observed that “Tak” had become a “source identifier” for Aaj Tak’s marks, forming a family of marks. Therefore, the court directed these five defendants to take down their websites and social media pages.
If they failed to comply within a week, the social media platforms themselves would be instructed to take action.
