[BREAKING] Republic TV cannot use term "News Hour" for now, Delhi High Court grants interim injunction in favour of Times Now

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted an interim relief to Times Now while restraining Republic TV from using the trademark ‘NEWS HOUR’ or any other mark that may be deceptively similar to it..The Court, however, refused to grant any interim relief with respect to use of the tag line "nation wants to know" stating that a detailed examination of the issue is required..The partial relief of interim injunction was granted in favour of the Benett Coleman & Co., the parent company of the channel Times Now, by a single Judge Bench of Justice Jayant Nath. .The media conglomerate had moved the High Court seeking a permanent injunction against Arnab Goswami's ARG Media Outlier from using the marks 'News Hour' and 'Nation Wants to Know' or any other derivatives or combinations of the same..The dispute between the Times Group and Republic Network over these has its genesis in Anchor Editor Arnab Goswami's exit from Times Now in 2016 to set up his own venture ARG Outlier Media Ltd of which the Republic Network is a product..During Goswami's time in Times Now as its Editor-in-chief, the channel launched one of its flagship debate/discussion programs titled News Hour in 2006. The trademark "News Hour" was registered by the Times Group under Classes 16, 35 and 38 in 2014 and the mark itself has been in use since 2006. Therefore, the plaintiff Group claimed statutory right over this trademark..As regards the phrase "Nation wants to know", Times Group claims that this tagline was a product of the efforts of the editorial and marketing team during the creative efforts undertaken for and on behalf of the plaintiff group. The phrase or tagline was to be used during the debates and discussions conducted during the primetime program News Hour, which was anchored by Goswami up until his departure in November 2016. This tagline, the Times Group says, has "acquired goodwill and distinctiveness indicative of the programme originating from the plaintiff in the eyes of the viewers of the channel.".As such, the Times Group applied for registration of trademark on this tag line under Classes 38 and 41 in December of 2016, just days after Goswami's notoriously unceremonious exit from Times Group whereas Goswami sought to stake claim on the tagline since just two days after his departure from the plaintiff's company..The Plaintiff also alleges that Goswami took "undue advantage" of the popularity of the program he anchored at Times Now. Despite his employment agreement with Times Group vesting all rights to intellectual property exclusively with the plaintiff company, Goswami proceeded to use the disputed marks, the Times Group averred.."...any brand image which may have accrued to defendant No. 2 over the period of time on account of being an anchor of the plaintiff’s show was due to the investment made by the plaintiff and defendant No. 2 represented the plaintiff and hence, all goodwill and proprietary rights created during such period belong to the plaintiff," the Court recorded the plaintiff's stance..The Republic TV, on the other hand, claims that the viewers of the two news channels are "informed and literate" and cannot confuse the programs aired on the two channels especially since the animosity between thew two is matter of public knowledge. Times Group initiated the present proceedings "in the form of vendetta litigation" merely with the intention to "attempt to harass and arm twist" the defendant..Republic argues that the words "News Hour" are generic, widely used and as such Times Group cannot claim a proprietary right on the same. In fact, Republic has even questioned the granting of trademark in favour of plaintiff terming the same as erroneous on the grounds that the term lacks distinveness and ought not have been granted as a trademark..On the tagline "nation wants to know", the defendant submits that the phrase or line was used by Goswami during his time at the Times Group. However, it was neither scripted nor planned or a product of a creative process. It was just a line that happened to be used as part of a common speech by Goswami during his then debate program on Times Now. Over time, this line became synonymous with Goswami and Times Group cannot claim proprietary right over it in any way, it is argued..Pertinently, ARG Outlier Media has itself applied for registeration of terms "News Hour" and "Nation Wants to Know" while claiming that these terms lack distinctiveness and the issue was objected to by the plaintiff who averred that the defendant cannot be permitted to "approbate and reprobate before the courts of law.".The Court, however, found no merit in defendant's argument against distintiveness of the registered mark of "News Hour". The mark is a registered trade mark since 2014 which was prima facie used in 2006 and has been in use since.As such, Defendant's use of prefix or suffix against the registered mark would also be viewed as being deceptively similar and the plaintiff would be entitled to relief in this regard. Observing the same, the Court granted an interim injunction against the use of "News Hour" or anything deceptively similar to it..The second mark in dispute is not a registered mark and is a tagline that both parties stake claim on giving rise to the question of whether the defendant was indulging in passing off. While plaintiff claimed proprietary right, defendant said that the tagline was never associated with the plaintiff but always with Goswami.The Court, however, opined that this issue needs further examination of documents adduced by both sides and can be done when the parties lead evidence. The Court said, "The date of user of the tagline NWTK can only be decided appropriately after the parties have led their evidence." It added,."In these facts and circumstances, prima facie it is not possible, at this stage without leading of evidence, to come to a conclusion that the defendants seek to mislead the consumers of the news channel or that the action of the defendants in using the said tagline would cause damage to the plaintiff as claimed".The Court also stated that whether or not the tagline was used as a trademark is an aspect that needs to be delved into in detail.."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.".Therefore, in a partial relief, the Court granted an interim injunction in favour of Times Group, refraining Republic Network from using "News Hour" or anything deceptively similar to it with no interim relief being granted with respect to "nation wants to know".Read Order: