‘Champak’ copyright row: BCCI sued by popular kids’ magazine over name of IPL’s robot pet dog

Delhi Press, the publisher of 31 magazines in nine languages, has sued the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the alleged infringement of its registered trademark by calling the robotic dog, introduced as part of the broadcast coverage during the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, ‘Champak.’ The matter came for a hearing at the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee refused to provide an interim injunction to the publisher. The court will take up the matter next on July 9.

Delhi Press’ argument

Advocate Amit Gupta is representing Delhi Press at the Delhi High Court.

“This AI tool has been named as Champak. The IPL has been going on. The product was introduced earlier but it was named later on April 23, purportedly based on fan voting,” submitted Gupta.

The advocate argued that the publisher is a registered owner of the mark and the cricket body is using it without authorisation.

BCCI’s argument

Senior advocate J Sai Deepak appeared for the BCCI. The BCCI counsel argued that ‘champak’ is based on the character of the Television Show ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma’ and not the magazine.

One of the characters in the series is ‘Champaklal Jayantilal Gada’, played by popular actor Amit Bhatt.

Judge’s reference to Virat Kohli

The judge questioned the publisher about why they hadn’t filed a lawsuit against Virat Kohli for being called “chiku,” a reference to another character in Champak magazine.

Advocate Amit Gupta argued that the cricketer hasn’t launched a product, whereas the BCCI has launched a product, which amounts to commercial exploitation.

BCCI’s innovation

The robotic dog was introduced to the broadcast during the IPL 2025 match between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians on April 13. It’s a regular feature during the coverage and is seen to have delivered the coin during the time of toss.

Online poll results

The IPL fan poll asked the viewers to pick a name for the IPL pet during the 33rd match of IPL 2025 played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad.

What name would you pick for the IPL pet?

Champak got 76 per cent of the votes, followed by Buddy (10 per cent), Chulbul (7 per cent) and Jaffa (7 per cent).

 

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