Top Court Refuses To Entertain BharatPe's Petition Against PhonePe
Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court of India has declined to entertain the Special Leave Petition filed by Resilient Innovations (BharatPe) challenging the judgement of the Bombay High Court. The Bengaluru-based firm said the Supreme Court observed during the course of hearing that the Petitioner/Resilient Innovations were not prejudiced in any manner by the impugned judgments of the Bombay High Court and the underlying reasons cited to file the SLP did not merit the intervention of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
“During the course of hearing, the Supreme Court also observed that PhonePe cannot be left remediless or without any recourse and hence the SLP was dismissed in limine (on the threshold). This SLP was yet another attempt by Resilient Innovation to delay the proceedings in the legal actions initiated by PhonePe with respect to the usage of the marks ‘PostPe’ / ‘postpe’,” said a PhonePe spokesperson. “PhonePe is determined to protect and secure the rights of PhonePe and the value of its brand. The dismissal of the said SLP by the Supreme Court cleared the way for PhonePe to proceed further with its suit at the Bombay High Court.”
Last October, PhonePe approached the Bombay High Court seeking an injunction to restrain its rival Resilient Innovations (BharatPe) from misusing PhonePe's registered trademarks by using and promoting the marks 'PostPe' / 'postpe'. PhonePe had said that during the hearing, Hon'ble Court observed that the mark PostPe adopted by Resilient Innovations is so phonetically, structurally and visually similar to PhonePe mark that it also thought that PostPe/postpe is a natural evolution of the word PhonePe and emanated from PhonePe.
However, to address certain observations made by the Court in the pleadings filed by PhonePe, the Suit was withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh Suit challenging the adoption of mark PostPe/postpe by Resilient Innovations.
Last June, PhonePe and BharatPe went for a full trial over the use of the word ‘Pe’ (pronounced as pay and means ‘on’ in Hindi) after nearly two years of court proceedings. PhonePe had filed a lawsuit against BharatPe claiming trademark rights over the suffix and that full trial is still going on. At that point also it had withdrawn the injunction plea in the Delhi High Court and instead sought quick disposal of the main lawsuit.
In November last year, PhonePe said that the Delhi High Court has dismissed the petitions filed by Resilient Innovations seeking cancellation and removal of entries pertaining to some of PhonePe’s registered trademarks from the Register of Trade Marks.
Last year, Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd (owner and user of the 'BharatPe' and 'PostPe' marks) had filed six different petitions before the Delhi High Court seeking cancellation and removal of the entry pertaining to some of PhonePe’s registered trademarks from the Register of Trade Marks, wherein it also sought interim relief against use of such registered trademarks of PhonePe.
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
The Elusive Nature Of Fraud Detection: Exploring The Auditor's Dilemma
In the intricate world of financial reporting, auditors serve as guardians of integrity, tasked with uncovering discrepa... Read more
The Battle For Depositors: US Lenders Ramp Up Efforts Amidst Rate Uncertainty
In the competitive landscape of the US banking sector, retaining depositors is paramount for lenders seeking to maintain... Read more
Beyond Capital: Unveiling The Complexities Of Bank Failure Prediction
In the realm of banking, the ability to predict and prevent failures is paramount for financial stability and consumer c... Read more
Central Banks And The Economic Horizon: Steering Through Uncertaintie
In the evolving landscape of global financial markets, the strategic role of central banks has come under intense scruti... Read more
Transforming Financial Operations With Robotic Process Automation
Author: Ricardo Goulart ... Read more
The Role Of Machine Learning In Fraud Detection
Author: Gerardine Lucero  ... Read more