TikTok may soon make a comeback in India as its parent company ByteDance has filed a trademark for the short-form video app with the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. It was one of the 59 Chinese apps that were banned by the government in June last year. Soon after the ban, the TikTok app was pulled from the App Store and became unavailable on the Indian network. However, platforms including Facebook's Instagram integrated a similar experience, which was originally available on TikTok for Indian users, to fill their gap.
ByteDance filed a trademark application for TikTok on July 6 with the title "TickTock". The application, which was first reported on Twitter by tipster Mukul Sharma, was filed under Clause 42 of the Fourth Schedule of the Trade Marks Rules 2002. These rules, “Scientific and Technical Service and its related research and design, Industrial Analysis and Research Service, design and development of computer hardware and software”.
ByteDance is in talks with the government
According to media reports, ByteDance is in talks with the government to bring Tiktok back to the country. The Chinese company also assured the officials that it would work to comply with the new IT regulations. In 2019, ByteDance appointed its Chief Nodal and Grievance Officer in India. This is one of the key requirements of the IT regulations for 'critical' social media intermediaries, which have over 5 million users in the country.
However, despite being the nodal and grievance officer, ByteDance-owned TikTok faced a nationwide ban last year for jeopardizing the country's "sovereignty and integrity" amid border tensions with China. Months after the ban, ByteDance was reportedly in discussions with Reliance Industries to invest in TikTok to restore its business in the country. However, that discussion did not help bring about any change.
At the time of its ban, there were around 200 million users of Tiktok in the country. Those users were attracted by platforms including Instagram and YouTube through their integrated reels and shorts respectively. At the same time, amid the national lockdown, its restrictions on demand for short-form video apps and some Indian TikTok alternatives have also emerged in the market to take advantage of the cash.
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