The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (April 30) sought a response from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding a lawsuit filed by the publishers of the popular children's comic book "Champak."
The controversy arose as the Indian Premier League (IPL) named its AI-powered robotic dog "Champak", with publishers alleging that it is a brand infringement.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee, recognizing the long-standing existence of the "Champak" brand, has asked the BCCI and the IPL to submit their written responses to the plea within a period of four weeks. The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for July 9.
During the proceedings, the counsel representing the plaintiff requested the court to grant interim protection by instructing the defendants to refrain from using the "Champak" mark. However, the court did not issue any interim order at this particular stage.
Delhi Press Patra Prakashan Pvt Ltd moved the high court, claiming that it has been publishing Champak magazine since 1968.
The 18th edition of the IPL is currently underway and will culminate on May 25. In one of the games, BCCI introduced IPL’s latest tech addition, a robotic dog, calling it "Champak".
Advocate Amit Gupta, representing the publisher, stated that naming the robotic dog "Champak" amounted to infringement.
He said, "Champak" (robotic dog) as an entertainment feature during IPL matches, which are broadcast nationwide to over 20 crore viewers, resulted in irreparable harm to the plaintiff by diluting its well-established brand, tarnishing its goodwill, and unjustly enriching themselves.
"This constitutes dilution by way of tarnishment, causing injury to the distinctiveness and positive public perception painstakingly built by the plaintiff over decades," the plea said.
Senior advocate J Sai Deepak, representing the Indian board, dismissed the plea saying Champak was the name of a flower and people associated the robotic dog with a character of a TV series and not the magazine.
The plea, also filed through advocates Mansi Kukreja, Kshitij Vaibhav and Muskan Nagpal, said the nickname of Virat Kohli, former captain of the Indian cricket team, is Cheeku and in one of the interviews, he himself disclosed that his nickname was given on the basis of the character which appears in Champak magazine.
"People across all genres identify the word Champak exclusively with the plaintiff and its magazines and the animal characters which are the focus of the magazine. It is reiterated that even the nickname of Virat Kohli, that is Cheeku, is based on the character from the plaintiff's magazine, Champak," it said.
The judge then said the publisher did not choose to proceed against Kohli for his nickname akin to the name of a character in Champak magazine.
"When did you come to know about it? This is one of the characters in Champak. But you did not proceed against him, you have not initiated any action against him," Justice Banerjee said.
To this, the counsel said based on a particular character in a comic book or any of TV series and movies, people generally give nicknames to their near and dear ones.
"Today my issue is the usage of the word Champak which is my registered trademark," Gupta said.
When the court asked to show how infringement was made out, the plaintiff's counsel said IPL is a commercial venture with "advertising, marketing and earning".
The plea said naming of the robotic dog was done following a purported poll process on social media which heavily favoured the name Champak owing to the existing goodwill and recognition of the plaintiff's brand.
The plea claimed the defendants' continued promotion of "Champak" across various media platforms, including news outlets and social media, was aggravating the damage being caused to the plaintiff's rights.
The publisher, therefore, urged the court to restrain BCCI and IPL from infringing its trademark and sought Rs 2 crore in damages for loss of "distinctiveness, goodwill, reputation, dilution, and harm" caused to its trademark.
(With PTI Inputs)
