TikTok may be trying to comeback in India as ‘TickTock’ – morningtidings

After PUBG Mobile reentered the Indian market in the form of Battlegrounds Mobile India, ByteDance may be attempting something similar with TikTok. ByteDance has applied for a new trademark having ‘TickTock’ as the wordmark with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The company has officially applied for the trademark on July 6, 2021 and the same is publicly visible on the website of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. Both PUBG Mobile and TikTok were among the popular apps that were banned by the Indian government last year.

Note that it is too early to guess as to when TikTok will make a comeback in India as the trademark application is just the beginning and the ministry hasn’t registered the trademark ‘TickTock’ yet. The status of the trademark application shows as “Marked for Exam” on the website.
We can be sure that TikTok and TickTock will be the same thing as the service description found on the website Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks is quite familiar.
“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” reads the Goods & Services Description of TickTock.
In February 2021, Bloomberg News had reported that ByteDance was exploring the sale of the India operations of TikTok to rival unicorn Glance. The discussions, initiated by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, are private, early and complex, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Glance’s parent, mobile advertising technology firm InMobi, also owns short-video app Roposo that has gained in popularity after TikTok was banned by the Indian government in July last year. As per a report by Reuters from January 2021, ByteDance had reduced its 2,000-plus India team and said in a company memo that it’s unsure of resuming operations in India.