Bhuvan Bam’s Digital Character Trademarked

INTRODUCTION 

In this digital era, there is upsurge in the creation and disbursement of content on the internet. There is also huge increase in last decade in the digital platforms where such content is shared or published. Some of the popular digital platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, etc.

With such increase in content on various platforms, the significance of Intellectual Property Laws [IPR] has increased manifold. Those creators who have earned reputation and regular viewers with their creativity in their content would not want anyone else to copy their idea or to post their content in other channel, causing unfair advantage to them. With the development in IPR laws along with the digital revolution, trademarks and copyrights for online content can be protected now.

Trademark is a sign or logo which a brand uses to advertise its products. Regarding online content, trademark has been used for protecting advertisements, logo of the channel, application or page on any platform, slogans and original posts, images, videos of authorized trademark users from infringement. In recent times, some unique things have been trademarked such as hashtags: #smilewithacole by coca cola, Sounds and jingles: “Intel Chimes” of Intel, Characters and mascots: “Clippy from Microsoft”; Emojis and icons: Emojis have been trademarked by some companies, such as ghost emoji of snapchat.

Hence, there has been widening of the scope of trademark in this regard.

In April 2024, an interesting news came that popular youtuber, Bhuvan Bam, also known as ‘BB’ got his iconic character, ‘Titu Mama’ trademarked. Bhuvan Bam has been one of the most successful youtuber who has over 25 million subscribers on his channel where he posts content mostly of comedy genre. He gained popularity very early when Youtube started becoming mainstream. Over the years he also made short films, web series and acted in advertisements and has gained recognition in India as well as globally. Now, he has become the first youtuber in India to trademark his character. Fictional characters are eligible for trademark, given that they fulfil some basic criteria.

About Bhuvan’s character: Titu Mama

His character “Titu Mama” is a very popular character among his audience, known for his savage dialogues and funny and unique style and accent of delivering dialogues. Titu Mama has appeared as lead character in Bhuvan’s web series, Taaza Khabar and Dhindhora, also conducted podcast with Shah Rukh Khan, team of film RRR and Johnny Sins, and he also performed live in this character. Titu Mama has gained significant recognition and reputation for his comedy and is established as a distinct identity renowned in public.

Evolution of Trademarking character of Youtube

Characters of film getting trademark has been seen often, starting from the “Micky Mouse” by Walt Disney in 1928, which laid the foundation for trademark protection for fictional characters. In India, Chacha Chaudhary by Pran Kumar Sharma was the first fictional character to be trademarked. First fictional character on screen to be trademarked in India was ‘Shaktimaan’, created and portrayed by Mukesh Khanna. Trademarking of character of youtube is comparatively new aspect, first youtuber to get his character trademarked was Felix Kjellberg for his character and youtube channel name ‘Pewdiepie’.

Criteria for registration of fictional character in online content:

1. Distinctive: The character must be distinctive in nature, it is a basic requirement as per the Trademark Act,1999 for applying for trademark. Titu Mama has been established as a distinct character with his unique dialogues and accent.

2. Use in Commerce: Another requirement for eligible trademark is that it must be in use to market goods or services. Titu Mama has been in use since 2017 and appeared consistently for the service of comedy content videos before applying in 2023.

3. Non-Clonflicting: There must not be a similar or identical trademarked character already existing at the time of applying. Titu Mama is a unique character and original idea, there is no identical or simial character.

4. Filing of Application: The character must be applied for registration to Registrar of Trademarks and follow the process any trademark registrations follows. Details about the character, its continuous use and the visual or graphic representation of that character.

5. Description of character, other details to be trademarked.

6. Compliance with Trademark Act,1999 and Trademark Rules 2017.

These are the key aspects to be considered while applying for registration of trademark of a character.

Advantages of Registration of Trademark for youtube charecter

A youtuber who has gained reputation through his character with hardwork and creativity would not want anyone else to take advantage of his idea .

1. Protection of brand: When a youtuber gains millions of subscribers and start getting adequate recognition with that particular character, then that character becomes a brand. By getting trademark, the identity of that brand gets protected and can`t be copied. Titu Mama has become a brand due to its use for podcasts with celebrities, multi million views on its videos and web series and other successful contents.

2. Exclusive Right: The character has exclusive right with regards to use of that character, He can use it in any way he wants. No one else has any right to use or copy that character. Bb was livid with the use of Titu Mama in a live show, which caused confusion among audience. Now he can file for infringement.

3. Increase in value: The character when becomes a registered trademark becomes a valuable asset. It will increase the overall value of the character as well as the whole youtube channel.

4. Licensing Agreements: Bhuvan after registration of trademark can license his character to others for a fees, a way he can earn revenue.

5. Global Protection: The protection of a youtube character can transcend boundaries and provide

6.  Long term protection: The creativity of owner will be protected for a long time.

Case Studies

Trademark dispute involving youtube character is not specifically available. Here is a case where trademark character has been

Star India Private Limited Vs Leo Burnett Pvt Ltd., 2003, Bombay HC

The High Court ruled that to get a fictional character registered in trademark, such character must have high recognition in public domain

Raja Pocket Books v. Radha Pocket Books, 1997 DHC

The court held defendant liable for imitating the fictional character of ‘Nagraj’ as ‘Nagesh’ and found phonetic similarity.

Walt Disney vs. Air Pirates

It’s a foreign case which provided for tests to check infringement of a fictional character, there are 2 checkpoints:

1. Visual Similarities Comparison and

2. Personality comparision

CONCLUSION

The trademarking of digital characters like Bhuvan Bam’s “Titu Mama” exemplifies the evolving landscape of intellectual property in the digital age. By meeting the criteria for distinctiveness, commercial use, non-conflicting status, and compliance with legal requirements, digital content creators can protect their unique creations. This protection not only safeguards their hard work and creativity but also adds value to their brand, offers exclusive rights, and provides opportunities for revenue through licensing. As content creation continues to thrive on digital platforms, the significance of trademarking characters will only grow, ensuring creators can maintain their competitive edge and continue to innovate without fear of infringement.