Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, one thing that has caught everyone’s attention is a robot dog. This dog remains a special attraction during every match and also appears with the captains during the toss on the field. This robot dog is named “Champak”. But, now the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is facing legal problems regarding this name.
Actually, the name “Champak” is already the name of a famous children’s magazine, which Delhi Press Group publishes. Now Delhi Press has filed a petition against BCCI in the Delhi High Court regarding this name. The petition states that BCCI has violated a trademark using the name “Champak”.
What did the court say?
In this case, High Court Judge Saurabh Banerjee issued a notice to BCCI and sought a reply from them and the next hearing will be held on 9 July.
Advocate Amit Gupta on behalf of Delhi Press told the court that his magazine is known for animal stories. He said that by using this name for robot dog, BCCI is harming their brand. He also added that IPL is a commercial event, and in such a situation, promoting a product in this way should be considered as a “commercial experience”.
According to Gupta, the robot dog was introduced earlier, but, it was named “Champak” on 23 April through voting of fans. The dispute started from here.
Why came Virat Kohli’s name?
During the hearing of the case, Virat Kohli’s name also came into the discussion in the court. People affectionately call him “Chiku”, and this name is also associated with an animal character. The court said that if this argument is accepted, then Delhi Press can also take a commercial advantage of Virat’s surname. On this, Gupta clarified that Kohli is not launching any product. If he had done so, he would also come under the legal purview.
What was BCCI’s plea?
On behalf of BCCI, advocate J Sai Deepak said that “Champak” is just the name of a flower. He argued that people are looking at it by connecting it to a TV show or character, while their aim was not to join the children’s magazine.
Now it has to be seen what decision the court gives in the next hearing in this case.
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