Bcci sued after naming ipl robotic dog ‘Champak’ – Everything you need to know

The Delhi High Court on Wednsday Sought Responses from the bcci on a plea filed by the publishers of renowned children’s comic book champak allegging trademark infringing Robotic dog “champak”. Justice saurabh bnerjee observed the champak brand name was existing since the eternity and asked the board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) and Indian Premier (IPL) to File Written Statement in in Response to the please within four weeks. The court posted the hearing on July 9.

The plaintiff’s counsel also prayed that an interim protection be granted to him by directed the defendants not to use the mark.

The court, however, did not pass any interim order at this stage.

Delhi Press Patra Prakashan Pvt Ltd Moved The High Court, Saying it has been publishing champak magazine since 1968.

The 18th session of the IPL is currently underway and will end on May 25, 2025.

During one of the matches, bcci and ipl introduced ai-generated robotic dog and on April 20, Calling It “Champak”.

Advocate amit gupta, representing the publisher, said naming the Robotic dog “Champak” Amouned to infringement of its registered trademark and also commercial exploitation as champak was a wll kNOWNOWN MARK

He said “champak” Well-Establed Brand, Tarnishing Its Goodwill, and Unjustly Enriching Themselves.

“This Constitution Dilution by Way of Tarnishment, Causing Injury to the distinctiveness and positive public perception paintingly Painstakingly Built by the Plaintif Over Decades,” The Comple Said.

Senior Advocate J Sai Deepak, Who appeared for Bcci, Opposed the please champak was the name of a flower and people associateed the robotic dog with a character of a TV series and not the magazine.

The plea, also filled through advocates Mansi Kukreja, Kshitij Vaibav and Muskan Nagpal, said the nickname of Virat Kohli, Former Captain of the Indian CRICKET TEAM, Is Cheeku and In One of the Interator 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 plaintif and its magazines and the animal characters which are the focus of the magazine. It is reiterated that even it is the nicks of virat Kohli, that is cheeku, is based on the character from the plaintif’s magazine, champak, “it said.

The judge then said the publisher did not chose 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.

To this, the counsel said based on a particular character in a commeric 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 favorite the name champak waiting to the existing goodwill and recognition of the Plaland.

The plea claimed the defendants’ Continued Promotion of “Champak” across various media platforms, include news outlets and social media, was aggravating the damage being caught to the plinth.

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, dils Trademark.

(This story has not been edited by ndtv staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)