Another Chinese app, TikTok set to return in India after ban like PUBG aka Battlegrounds Mobile India? Check new name

Surprise! A year after TikTok was banned in India over national security concerns, ByteDance may bring back this video sharing service. Notably PUBG Mobile India too was banned and it is back as Battlegrounds Mobile India.

TikTok is banned in India, but after PUBG Mobile India made its comeback as Battlegrounds Mobile India, it may have opened a window for others. (Pixabay)

TikTok, the popular video-sharing service that was banned in India in June of last year along with other China-linked apps on national security grounds, is looking at making a comeback, according to a new report. TiTok video service would not be the first banned app to make a comeback in India in recent memory. PlayerUnknown's Battleground Mobile India (also known as PUBG Mobile) which was also banned last year, was relaunched in the country earlier this month as Battlegrounds Mobile India.

Parent company ByteDance, which began retrenchments in the country at the beginning of 2021 after the ban, has reportedly applied for a new trademark that sounds similar to its original app TikTok. An application for a new trademark with the ‘TickTock' wordmark was recently spotted by the Times of India on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry website. The entry for TickTock shows the application date as July 6, while the status is currently ‘Marked for Exam'.

A screenshot of ByteDance's application for the TickTock wordmark.

A screenshot of ByteDance's application for the TickTock wordmark.

While there is no official word from ByteDance so far, the wording of the company's ‘Goods and Services Description on the publicly accessible website states: “Provision of software applications through a website; hosting on-line web facilities for others for sharing on-line content; hosting platforms on the internet; computer programming; computer software design; electronic data storage; software as a service (saas) services; cloud computing; hosting a website for the electronic storage of digital photographs and videos; hosting digital content on the internet; hosting multimedia entertainment content; hosting of multimedia and interactive applications; web site hosting services; business card design”.

It is too early to tell whether ByteDance could be looking to relaunch the popular video sharing service in India under a new name, as the ministry has not yet registered the trademark. We had previously reported that TikTok's parent company was exploring the sale of the TikTok India operations to rival unicorn Glance. Bloomberg had reported that SoftBank Group had initiated the discussions, but they were at a very early stage and very complex.

Readers might remember that TikTok, WeChat, and ShareIt were all banned in the country just over a year ago, under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, on the grounds that they “posed a threat to sovereignty and integrity of India”. A few months later in November, the government banned more apps including PUBG Mobile, which was recently relaunched as Battlegrounds Mobile India.