PhonePe, BharatPe settle trademark dispute

27 May 2024 , 05:15 PM

The five-year legal battle between the Walmart-backed digital payments company PhonePe and the New Delhi-based fintech startup BharatPe over the use of the suffix “Pe” (pronounced as “Pay”) has been resolved.

Both businesses stated in a joint statement on Sunday that they have withdrawn all trademark litigations against one another, allowing their individual marks to be registered.

“For the industry, this is a positive development. The chairman of the BharatPe Board, Rajnish Kumar, said, “I appreciate the maturity and professionalism shown by the management of both sides, working closely to resolve all outstanding legal issues and moving forward to focus their energy and resources in building robust digital payment ecosystems.”

The dispute started in 2018 when PhonePe sent BharatPe a legal notification demanding that the latter stop using the word “Pe” in Devanagari script in their business name. PhonePe pursued additional legal action in 2019 and filed a case in the Delhi High Court, requesting an injunction to stop BharatPe from using the “Pe” suffix.

“I’m happy that we were able to resolve this issue in a friendly manner. The result will help both businesses advance and concentrate our combined efforts on expanding the Indian fintech sector overall, according to PhonePe’s founder and CEO, Sameer Nigam.

PhonePe also filed a lawsuit in 2021 against Resilient Innovations, the parent company of BharatPe, for utilising the suffix for its PostPe Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service. The lawsuit was filed at the Bombay High Court. Nevertheless, the court rejected PhonePe’s claim of copyright infringement against BharatPe.

For feedback and suggestions, write to us at [e-mail]

For opening a demat account click on: https://www.indiainfoline.com/

For doing stock trading & investments, go to: https://ttweb.indiainfoline.com/trade/Login.aspx

For loans, go to: https://www.iifl.com/