Even as Star prepares to launch its Star One channel on November 1, the Sahara Group, which relaunched its entertainment channel as Sahara One earlier this month, has taken it to court over the brand "One."
In a petition filed in the Delhi High Court on Monday, Sahara India Mass Communication, which owns the Sahara One brand, has asked that Star India be restrained from using "One" as it had registered the brand first. The court is expected to take a view on Friday.
"We had registered Sahara One on September 9 with the Registrar of Trademarks and our communications campaign started on September 27. The new logo for the channel was unveiled in London on October 1.
Star's campaign for its Star One channel is creating a great deal of confusion in the mind of viewers," Sahara sources said adding that the company had not claimed any financial damages from Star in its plea.
When contacted, Star India executives said "One" was a generic name and a trademark cannot be obtained on it.
If at all, Sahara can get a trademark on only Sahara One. The executives also said that Star was in the process of obtaining a trademark on Star One.
Sahara has created "One" as the umbrella brand for all its activities in the world of entertainment. It has set up a 50:50 joint venture with Percept called Sahara India Entertainment Management Company Ltd which looks after Sahara One TV, Sahara One Radio and Sahara India Motion Pictures.
