The ‘Nation Wants To Know’ is to Indian TV journalism what perhaps ‘Mere Paas Maa Hai’ is to Bollywood films. The phrase possesses a distinct iconic value. It is no wonder, then, that both the Times Network and journalist Arnab Goswami want to claim it as their Intellectual Property.

Without so much as naming the Times Group, Goswami issued an open challenge of sorts to his previous employers yesterday: “…arrest me. I am waiting right now in my studio floor.”

The former Newshour anchor, through this audio message, informed his listeners, that he has been threatened by a “media company” to not use the phrase, ‘Nation Wants To Know,’ because they believe it “belongs to them”.

He goes on to state that the phrase belongs to “every citizen of the country”. Except in January this year, Goswami sought to trademark it and filed an application before the Comptroller General of Patents Design & Trade Marks to register the phrases ‘The Nation Wants To Know’ and ‘Nation Wants To Know’ under ARG Outlier Media, the company under whichRepublic TV is registered.

The “legal threat” that Goswami is talking about in his audio message is a Cease and Desist notice, detailing the provisions of the Indian Copyright Act. Times Group had already sought to trademark ‘Nation Wants To Know’ soon after Goswami had leftTimes Now in November last year.

In an official response to Newslaundry, a Times Network official said, “Nation Wants To Know is a catch line used by Times Now for years. It differentiates us from competition and is also an integral part of our identity. The same has also been filed by us for trademark registration. In January 2017, a little-known media company tried to file for the same and subsequently, we served them a caution notice with our objection.”

Dubbing Goswami’s audio message as “bombastic”, the official stated that this was not a case of a “big media company” going after an “independent journalist”. “If it was truly open source IP as they [Goswami and co] are now making it out to be, why were they trying to restrain others from using the phrase by filing for trademark? Had they filed for trademark first, would they still scream in this sham-injured voice?”

The official also claimed that Republic TV had sought to use other “brand elements” of Times Now, such as a version of the word, Newshour. “Is their creativity truly limited and have they run out of ideas that they feel the need to copy from us and assume brand elements of Times Now to mimic our appearance to look impressive? We expect a new player to come up with fresh new ideas.”

As far as contracts go, Times Group, like many other Big Media companies, makes it employees sign prohibitive clauses at the time of joining the company. These pretty much state that all IPR related to work done or created by an employee rests solely and exclusively with the company. This includes all literary, dramatic or artistic work done in the course of the contract. For instance, The Times of India contract, in fact, also suggests that IPR related to all posts on social networking website like Facebook and Twitter vests solely with the company in “perpetuity”.

Newslaundry’s repeated attempts to get in touch with Goswami elicited no response. It isn’t clear whether ARG Outlier Media sought to trademark ‘Nation Wants To Know’ as a response to Times Group or if it genuinely believes that the phrase exclusively belongs to Goswami.

But what is clear is that Goswami will not take this lying down. He has literally asked the Times Group to “bring it on”. Part of his confidence could do with the fact that it is he who made the phrase popular, even if it was on Times Now’s platform. ‘Nation Wants To Know’ doesn’t quite have the ring if it isn’t Goswami asking the question.

But, more importantly, it may be exceedingly difficult for Times Network to establish a trademark right on the phrase. Shamnad Basheer, a legal expert on intellectual property issues and founder of SpicyIP, says, “They will have to prove — and it requires a very high degree of proof — that they have created an exclusive association in the minds of the public with the phrase. And that exclusivity normally will come with phrases and terms that are very distinct and not terms that are part of common usage. ‘Nation Wants To Know’ is not an exceptionally distinctive phrase. To register it as their trademark, Times will have to prove that it is so unique that it can only be associated with them and that consumers will get confused if someone else uses it.”

He also states that once and if a trademark right is established, the employer will normally own it. Unless there is a contract to the contrary. “Arnab Goswami was an employee. Even if he has created the phrase, Times Network will own it. But again the important question is whether or not any sort of trademark right can be established on the phrase in the first place.”

Should Times Group and Goswami decide to battle this out in court, it will surely make for an interesting media wrangle to follow. One that will also pit Brand Arnab against Brand Times Now in no uncertain terms.

The author can be contacted at manisha.pande1110@gmail.com and on Twitter @MnshaP