Times notice to ABP on 'Ananda'

Days after the launch of Star Ananda, a 24-hour Bengali news channel from the ABP-Star stable, Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, the publisher of The Economic Times and The Times of India, has issued a legal notice, urging competitors to refrain from using the name "Ananda", in relation to television broadcasting services.

Bennett has claimed exclusive rights to the use of the word "Ananda", for which the company had filed an application for registration under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The notice, published in the The Economic Times on June 4, said the application was pending since May 14, 2004.

Aniruddha Lahiri, managing director, ABP Ltd, said, "We have to examine it." When asked whether Star Ananda had been registered, he said, "We have certainly acted."

He added the ABP Group had a large number of properties with the name Ananda like Ananda Bazaar Patrika, Ananda Publishers and Ananda Puroshkar.

Uday Shankar, chief executive officer, Media Content & Communications Services India (MCCS), which beams the Bengali TV channel Star Ananda and Star News, refused to comment on the issue.

MCCS is a 74:26 joint venture between the ABP Group and the Rupert Murdoch promoted Star group. Star News is a 24-hour Hindi news channel.

The notice says, having obtained requisite statutory permission on November 11, 2004, to uplink its television channel under the name "Ananda" (in English/ Hindi) in digital mode from India, Bennett enjoyed exclusive rights to telecast programmes under the channel name "Ananda" for a period of 10 years. "They are in the process of launching their TV channel under the name Ananda very shortly," said the notice.

Sources said "Ananda" was a generic word and was not protected. The legal notice mentioned that Bennett had applied for registration of the trademark. Bennett had obtained the requisite statutory permission in November 2004 to uplink its television channel under the name "Ananda" in English and Hindi only.