Delhi High Court Rules In Favour Of Aaj Tak, Permanently Restrains YouTube Channels, Social Media Handles From Using Deceptively Similar Marks

Ruling in favour of Aaj Tak, the Delhi High Court has permanently restrained various YouTube channels and social media handles from using marks that are deceptively similar and identical to the registered trademark of the news channel.

Justice C Hari Shankar passed the permanent injunction order in favour of Living Media India Limited which runs the news channel under the registered trademark “Aaj Tak.”

It was Aaj Tak’s case that the YouTube channels and social media handles were violating its registered mark by using “Aaj Tak” mark and its various derivative forms illegally and unauthorisedly.

Those who have been permanently injuncted are Aabtak News Channel, Rajasthan Tak, Aap Tak, Haryana Tak, Samay Tak News, Kal Tak, Ab Tak TV News etc. In April last year, the court had passed an ad interim injunction order against the defendants and in favour of the news channel.

Justice Shankar observed that since the 25 defendants in question used the suffix “Tak” in respect of services which were identical to the services provided by the news channel, the impugned marks were ex facie infringing of Aaj Tak’s registered trademark.

“There shall, therefore, be a decree of permanent injunction, restraining Defendants 1 to 14 and Defendants 20 to 30 from using any of the marks noted alongside the said Defendants in the table in para 2 supra, or any other mark which is confusingly or deceptively similar to the mark “AAJ TAK”/ of the plaintiffs, either as a word mark or as a logo, or any other mark which is confusingly similar to the plaintiff’s marks, for running any online channel or for any other goods or services which may be regarded as allied or cognate thereto,” the court said.

Five other defendants who were running a website, YouTube channel and social media accounts with the mark “Sach Tak News” filed a written statement and claimed that Aaj Tak news channel cannot claim exclusivity over “Tak” suffix as it has not been separately registered as a mark.

Observing that Aaj Tak has a “family of marks” with “Tak”, Justice Shankar said that the suffix in question has become a “source identifier” of the marks of Aaj Tak and is, therefore, the dominant part of its marks.

The court thus directed the five defendants to take down their websites or social media pages. It added that in case the defendants fail to take down the web pages and social media handles within a week, the social media platforms will do the needful.

Case Title: LIVING MEDIA INDIA LIMITED & ANR. v. AABTAK CHANNEL.COM (JOHN DOES) & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 830

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