PhonePe, a digital payments company, has withdrawn its injunction request against BharatPe over the latter’s use of the suffix “Pe,” as it prepares for a full trial in July.
After the Delhi high court denied PhonePe’s interim injunction request in April, the company sought relief from a division bench.
However, it has now withdrawn its request for an injunction. PhonePe’s senior counsel told the division bench in a June 1 court order that the company does not want to pursue its injunction case any further.
“After some arguments, learned senior counsel for the appellant (PhonePe) does not wish to press the present appeal. He, however, prays for the expeditious disposal of the suit. Keeping in view of the aforesaid limited prayer, we dispose of the present appeal by directing the learned single judge to expedite the hearing and disposal of the suit. We further direct that none of the parties shall unnecessarily take an adjournment in the proceedings before the learned single judge,” said the recent court order by a division bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Navin Chawla .
In May 2019, PhonePe filed a commercial lawsuit against BharatPe in the Delhi high court, alleging trademark infringement and claiming exclusivity on the ‘Pe’ suffix.
The company was also requesting an injunction from the Delhi high court against BharatPe for using the word “Pe” in its brand and app names. Even before the lawsuit, both firms had been arguing against the use of the term “Pe.”
“Nearly two years ago, we filed for an injunction to get a temporary reprieve until the main trial began. Because BharatPe continues to actively plagiarise our trademark “Pe,” the injunction ruling had lost some of its meaning by the time it was issued. A trial was always going to be our main recourse,” a PhonePe spokesperson said.
