PhonePe, BharatPe settle trademark row over ‘Pe’ suffix

FinTech rivals PhonePe and BharatPe have reached a legal settlement and ended a five-year trademark dispute over using the suffix ‘Pe’ in their brand names. The settlement now enables the two companies to go ahead with registration of their respective trademarks.

The two financial technology firms decided to take back all complaints against each other in the matter at the Trade Marks Registry, which acts as a facilitator in matters relating to trademarks in India.

“The two parties 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,” the companies said in a joint statement.

“Further, both organisations will undertake necessary steps to comply with the obligations under the settlement agreement in respect of all cases before the Delhi High Court (HC) and Bombay HC,” the statement added.

PhonePe went for a full trial against Resilient Innovations, which operates under the trademark of BharatPe, in June 2021 and over the use of the suffix ‘Pe’ in its brand name. The PhonePe lawsuit against BharatPe claimed trademark rights over the word ‘Pe’, which translates to ‘on’ in Hindi and takes the pronunciation of ‘pay’ when spoken aloud.

Subsequently, Resilient Innovations started promoting and using the brand name PostPe as a subsidiary of BharatPe. PhonePe then approached the Bombay High Court in October 2021 seeking an injunction to restrain Resilient Innovations from misusing their registered trademarks through the use of ‘PostPe’ or ’postpe’ as a subsidiary of BharatPe. In turn, Resilient Innovations filed six petitions in the Delhi High Court against PhonePe.

“I am glad that we have reached an amicable resolution in this matter. This outcome will benefit both companies to move forward and focus our collective energy on growing the Indian fintech industry as a whole,” said Sameer Nigam, founder and chief executive officer, PhonePe, in the statement released to the Press.

“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 and moving ahead to focus their energy and resources in building robust digital payment ecosystems,’’ said Rajnish Kumar, chairman of the board, BharatPe, in the statement released to the Press.

Both companies would initiate all essential action required to comply with obligations under the settlement agreement, with respect to all cases before the Delhi High Court and the Bombay High Court, PhonePe and BharatPe stated.