You must have surely seen those ‘Which is the best smartphone?’ ads featuring Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan wherein the latter is offering a sum of 1 crore for answering this question. However, following a restrain order by Delhi High Court to Chinese mobile manufacturer OnePlus from airing its advertisement, the ads will no longer be seen. The plea was made by broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) following copyright infringement.
The advertisement campaign, Bachchan is seen reinforcing OnePlus’ claim that its flagship smartphone OnePlus 3T is the highest-rated smartphone listen on online retailer website Amazon. The ad essentially showcases the set of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ whose rights are exclusive to Sony Pictures. The broadcaster has filed a petition seeking to stop OnePlus from airing the advertisement on grounds of copyright infringement. Rohan Joshi and Amitabh Bachchan are seen playing the famous KBC, taking the hot seat and asking for an audience poll.
"The ad in question was an extreme case of unfair competition and it infringes rules of intellectual property rights of the client," said Abhishek Malhotra, managing partner at Arthe Law, which represented SPN in the case. "We put the defendants on notice hoping that they will stop this brazen and illegal act. We were forced to go to court when we failed to get a response. What made the need for legal action even more necessary is that the defendants were actually glorifying the approach towards this type of advertising, even after receipt of the notice," Malhotra said.
