After being banned in India for nearly a year, the popular short video app TikTok could re-enter the country as TickTock, according to a trademark application filed by ByteDance. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance filed a trademark application for TickTock with the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks earlier this month, according to Twitter tipster Mukul Sharma. The trademark application was filed on July 6 and the description of the service is ‘hosting multimedia entertainment content, hosting multimedia and interactive applications’.
Company officials have not commented on the matter yet. According to an online report, ByteDance is keen to resume operations in India following the introduction of new IT rules. Due to TikTok’s ban, many tech companies have launched their short video platforms, such as Reels, Shorts and Spotlight.
Earlier this month, South Korean developer Krafton launched BattleGrounds Mobile India, a rebranded version of PUBG Mobile, which was also banned last year as part of the Chinese app ban. On Google Play for Android, there were 40 million pre-registrations for Battlegrounds Mobile India, with 20 million participating in the early access launch. On May 18, Battlegrounds Mobile India went live for pre-registration on Google Play Store. However, Krafton emphasized that the company had severed ties with China-based Tencent for Battleground’s return in India. When TikTok returns to the country, it will have to find a way around the security concerns that led to its ban last year.
A Chinese e-commerce platform, Shein, which was banned by the Indian government in June last year, is also coming back to India, but not as a full-featured app. Later this month, it will be part of Amazon’s Prime Day sale. The Amazon Prime Day sale 2021 is scheduled to take place over July 26 and 27 beginning at midnight on July 26. Chinese apps were removed from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in India after they were banned.
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TikTok remains popular worldwide despite its ban in India. Recently, it was downloaded more than three billion times around the world. TikTok is the fifth non-game app to surpass three billion installs, according to Sensor Tower data. There have only been three other apps that have exceeded three billion downloads since January 2014: Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.
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