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BharatPe, PhonePe settle all trademark disputes over ‘Pe’ suffix

Entrackr · 5m

Fintech firms BharatPe and PhonePe today jointly announced that they have amicably settled all long-standing legal disputes pertaining to the usage of the trademark with the suffix ‘Pe’. Both companies had been involved in long-drawn legal disputes across multiple courts, over the last five years. The settlement will put an end to all open judicial proceedings. As the next step, PhonePe and BharatPe have already taken steps to withdraw all oppositions against each other in the trademark registry which will help them to proceed with the registration of their respective marks. Further, both organizations will undertake other necessary steps to comply with the obligations under the settlement agreement in respect of all cases before Delhi High Court and Bombay High Court. “This is a positive development for the industry. I appreciate the maturity and professionalism shown by the management of both sides, working closely to resolve all outstanding legal issues…,” said Rajnish Kumar, chairman of the board, BharatPe. Sameer Nigam, founder and CEO PhonePe added, ‘’…This outcome will benefit both companies to move forward and focus our collective energy on growing the Indian fintech industry as a whole.” In 2019, PhonePe accused BharatPe of illegal usage of ‘Pe’ as a suffix in its app in English as well as in Hindi. Claiming trademark rights over the name, PhonePe also sought an injunction order in a lawsuit against the Tiger Global-backed company. Insurtech startup BimaPe, which later rebranded itself as Verak, also faced similar legal challenges for using the suffix ‘Pe’. The Indian startup ecosystem has seen several out of the court settlement cases in the past. Some notable incidents are PhonePe versus Indus OS, Khatabook versus Dukaan, Cult.fit versus Book Your Game and Flipkart versus GOQii.