It’s no longer just an internet in-joke; two parties are now vying for the name. After the campaign was un-geo-blocked in India and re-emerged on X, you have competing applications that could put an end to who gets to be in charge of the memes.
What the filings show
If you look at the public records from the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, you’ll see the split. There are distinct entries under Class 45 for the CJP name. They’ve both made it through the ‘Formalities Check Pass’ for now, but that’s as far as it goes in terms of rights.
Here are the key developments shaping the dispute:
– Two separate trademark filings surfaced under Class 45
– Both applications cleared ‘Formalities Check Pass’
– X account was geo-blocked in India, then returned
– Founder alleged an Instagram hacking attempt
You can even spot filings for ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ and ‘COCKROACH JANTA PARTY’ in screenshots, with the same status. It’s two different people, Azim Adambhai Jam and Akhand Swaroop, trying to put a stake in the ground for this fast-moving online persona. But make no mistake: these are not registrations. The registry will have to look at them on their own merits.
What comes next
We are only at the start of it. There is still a good deal of examination and possible opposition to come before anything is put in writing. For the time being, the name is up for grabs and we may be a few months from any kind of resolution.
Online resurgence fuels legal rush
All of this is happening as the CJP handle on X is back in play. Its reappearance has some talking about where the line is drawn on parody and political commentary.
Then there’s the matter of CJP’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke. He has been vocal about what he sees as an attempt to get into his Instagram after the X block was put in place. “Now trying to hack my Instagram,” he wrote, adding “Hacker Govt” and a screenshot of a password reset to make his point.
From meme to movement
The whole thing has its roots in some pointed satire. It started when some comments from the Chief Justice of India on the youth were met with a lot of mirth and derision. Then came the outrage over a remark that put unemployed young people in the same breath as cockroaches. What was once a punchline became a banner for a movement on X and Instagram.
Dipke, a former Aam Aadmi Party volunteer and a man with a background in political comms, is the one who put the CJP on the map. But there is nothing to tie him to these trademark papers yet. The filings and the face of the movement are two different stories for now.
Whether either of the applicants can lay claim to the name is for the trademark office to figure out, and it will determine how the CJP is presented in the future.
For the moment, the Cockroach Janata Party is a brand run on wit, not on forms. It is back in the limelight on X while the red tape is sorted out.
There is more to it than just a name. You have a viral phenomenon running headlong into India’s IP laws. Should anyone put up a fight, the registry will have to consider all sides of it.
The one certainty is that the law is in motion, and the memes are not going to stop.
