By Diksha-
A single-Judge Bench of Justice Jayant Nath granted interim injunction in favor of Times Now news channel by restraining Republic TV from using tagline ‘News Hour’ or any other similar to it.
The complaint was filed by Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd., parent company of Times Now channel against Arnab Goswami’s ARG Outlier Pvt. Ltd. for permanent injunction.
The Court has, however refused to grant relief in relation to the tagline ‘Nation wants to know’ giving reason that the issue needs detailed examination.
‘News Hour’ is a trademark used by the Times Now channel since 2006 for hosting debates and discussions on current hot topics and Arnab Goswami was a Editor-in-Chief of the channel then.
The Petitioners argued that the tagline ‘News Hour’ has acquired goodwill and distinctive recognition in the eyes of the viewers over time. Even ‘Nation wants to know’ is a creative product of the channel and they have applied for its trademark under Classes 38 and 41 after Goswami’s exit from the channel.
They further pleaded that Arnab Goswami is taking undue advantage of his past employment with the channel and he was prohibited from using any trademarks/ taglines from their channel.
Also, the tagline ‘Nation wants to know’ has been used by Goswami ad verbum.
The Republic TV however, has submitted that the term ‘News Hour’ is a generic and widely used term and they cannot be prohibited from using it. Also, the viewers are literate and informed and they can tell the difference between the two news channels.
Granting partial relief to Times Now, the Hon’ble Court observed with regard to the tagline ‘Nation wants to know’ that:
“In my opinion, it is only after evidence has been led that it can be ascertained as to whether the plaintiff was using the aforesaid mark as a trade mark or it was merely being used as a form of speech in the course of conducting the news channel or in the course of carrying on interviews/presentations by defendant No. 2.”