Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief to Republic TV in its trademark infringement suit, which has been filed against Telugu news channel RTV News, over its logo 'R'. It also sought Rs100 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices.
Justice Manish Pitale dismissed the interim application filed by Republic TV seeking an urgent stay on the use of the logo by RTV News pending final decision.
Suit by ARG Outlier
The suit filed in March by ARG Outlier, the parent company of Republic TV, sought permanent injunction against RTV's holding company, Rayadu Vision Media, for infringing and passing off the trademark ‘R,’ "owned" by Republic TV.
Republic contended that around February 4, 2023, it came across YouTube channels with the name RTV. It alleged that RTV copied its trademark and was using a logo that was deceptively similar to its own. ARG claimed that it was incorporated in 2016 and was running three different channels in three languages namely, Republic TV, Republic Bharat and Republic Bangla.
Opposing the plea, Rayudu pointed out that it has been using the logo ‘RTV’ since 2007, much before Republic was incorporated. Besides, it claimed to be an honest user of the mark as it came from the owner’s family name.
Rayudu claimed that an application for use of the logo 'R' for its news channel is pending before the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Republic has formally opposed the logo, which the Ministry was yet to consider, it pointed out.
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