Legal notice sent to Sony by Shark Tank Pitcher for "disagreeing the contractual obligations"

Shark Tank India, launched in 2021, is a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their business model to popular investors to get funding. Over the years, it has become the talk of the town for its featured start-up journeys and controversies.  Pathik Patel, founder of Fit & Flex, pitched his startup on Shark Tank Season 3 and asked 1 crore for a 3 percent stake in his company, but failed. Season 3 premiered on January 22, 2024. 

The founder quoted in his LinkedIn post, "Sony Entertainment Television has unjustly targeted us for trademark violations without any prior notice." He claimed the creators disabled the collaboration feature, unpublished their Facebook page, and even blocked their ad account. According to the show's guidelines, the founder was allowed to use clips for marketing purposes for three months from the episode's air date, but his content was pulled down within 25 days. 

Highlighting the whole situation, the founder said, "We don't want to use any clips for marketing; we just want our original accounts back. He also stated that, in spite of many attempts to resolve this issue, he faced complete radio silence from Sony. Adding to this issue, Patel also said that this challenge is faced by more than 70 startups, and media houses are harnessing startup brands.