The Delhi High Court has rejected Walmart-owned PhonePe’s plea seeking an injunction against BharatPe for using ‘Pe’ in its name, according to media reports. The order rejecting PhonePe's plea was passed on 15th April.
A single-judge bench of Justice C Hari Shankar held that PhonePe's claim was insufficient to prove that BharatPe’s logo is deceptively similar to its logo. "It does not appear, at a plain glance, that the colouring of the letters in the two marks, or their font, is the same,” he added.
The judge also rejected PhonePe’s claim that the ‘Pe’ suffix in its trademark had acquired distinctiveness and a secondary meaning to the extent that consumers would invariably associate ‘Pe’ with the company is a “matter of trial”.
“The evidence presently at hand is insufficient to come to a definitive conclusion that the “Pe” suffix would, in the public consciousness, indelibly be associated with the plaintiff’s [PhonePe’s] services,” Justice Shankar said.
PhonePe had filed a plea in the Delhi High Cout seeking an injunction restraining infringement of trademark, passing off, damages, etc. PhonePe had claimed the rights in the marks ‘PhonePe/Phoneपे' and had sought a stay against BharatPe for using the mark Bharatपे for its mobile applications.