Delhi HC dismisses ShareChat copyright violation petition against Helo

On October 30 last year, the High Court had ordered ByteDance, which owns Helo and popular short video app TikTok, to stop placing bids on 'ShareChat' as a keyword on Google's AdWords platform

The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside a petition moved by India-based messaging platform ShareChat against Indian content based app Helo, in which the former alleged that the latter was copying its design, infringing its copyright and indulging in unfair competition. 

On October 30 last year, the High Court had ordered ByteDance, the company that owns Helo and popular short video app TikTok, to stop placing bids on ‘ShareChat’ as a keyword on Google’s AdWords platform. 

ShareChat had earlier said that Helo, whose parent company is based in China, had exploited Google’s AdWords to get higher ranking by playing on its search words. 

It had also accused Helo of copying the ShareChat design and infringing on its copyright.

Helo has since changed the user interface and login screen of its app. It has also changed a partial image appearing on Google Play Store earlier.

In the Google general search and the Google Play Store search, the ad-words “Share” and “Chat”  have been discontinued and/or deactivated. 

ShareChat did not respond to a request for a comment.

"We welcome the order passed by the High Court of Delhi, which has been delivered without going into the merits of the case or any admission on the part of Helo to any wrongdoing, with the consent of the parties involved," Helo said in an email response.