RCB To Uber: “Not So Funny Now” – Lawsuit Over Trademark Misuse In Bike-Taxi Ad-OxBig News Network

Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, the parent company of the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd, accusing the company of unauthorized usage and manipulation of one of the team’s iconic slogans in a recent promotional campaign for its bike-taxi service.

The controversy centers around an advertisement titled “Baddies in Bengaluru,” released on April 5, which features Travis Head, a current Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) player and former RCB cricketer. The ad has already amassed over 1.3 million views on YouTube and is now under legal scrutiny for allegedly misrepresenting and mocking RCB’s brand identity.

RCB’s legal counsel argued that the franchise holds registered trademarks for both its name, ‘Royal Challengers Bengaluru’, and the popular slogan ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’, a Kannada phrase meaning “This year, the cup is ours.”According to the counsel, the ad unlawfully refers to the team using its old name, ‘Royal Challengers Bangalore’, and contains visuals that ridicule the team’s legacy. One of the key scenes under dispute shows Travis Head’s character spray-painting a modified version of RCB’s team name inside a stadium, which RCB claims is misleading and damaging to its image.  

“This is a deliberate attempt to tarnish and dilute RCB’s identity,” the franchise’s lawyer told the court. While the ad generically refers to a face-off between “Bengaluru and Hyderabad,” the franchise insists it’s obvious to viewers that the reference is aimed at them.

In defense of the creative choices, Uber claimed that Travis Head’s reference to being “Hyderabadi” was meant as a light-hearted play on words, suggesting Hyderabad will “royally challenge” RCB, not as an attack on the franchise itself. The company also stated that it had not used any official RCB trademarks directly and that calling the match “Bengaluru vs Hyderabad” was both legal and generic.

Uber’s legal representatives maintained that the ad falls under the scope of commercial. RCB, however, held firm on its stance, clarifying that while it had no issue with humour, it took issue with the misuse of a commercially valuable trademark for promotional gain.

The presiding judge has not yet ruled on RCB’s request to pull the advertisement and has reserved the decision. 

Uber concluded by stating the ad was simply a creative attempt to promote Uber Moto, especially in the context of Bengaluru’s traffic situation and the upcoming RCB vs SRH match scheduled for May 13.