Kerala-based Harvest TV seeks injunction against HTN News, takes down its YouTube channel

On February 2, 2019, the Thiruvananthapuram District Court served a legal notice to Noida-based Veecon Media and Broadcasting. This came after a petition filed by George Chacko, owner of Kerala-based Christian channel Harvest TV, accused Veecon Media of infringing Harvest TV’s trademark and causing “serious dents to reputation and goodwill of my channel”.

The petition seeks temporary prohibitory injunction against HTN News, which uses the Harvest TV name and logo and operates under the TV licence owned by Veecon Media. HTN News features primetime TV shows by the likes of journalists Barkha Dutt and Karan Thapar.

The petition lists Veecon Media and its CEO, Rohit Rohan, as defendants. The notice has asked Veecon Media to appear before the court on February 28, 2019.

On February 5, 2019, YouTube also took down HTN News’s channel, thanks to Chacko-owned Harvest TV’s notification to YouTube Legal Support alleging violation of trademark. The YouTube channel was allegedly using the “Harvest TV” logo in its videos.

Meanwhile, HTN seems to have started a new YouTube channel, with videos that omit both the Harvest TV name and logo.