Madras High Court restrains (for now) MobilePe from offering UPI, BHIM services after PhonePe trademark suit

The Madras High Court temporarily restrained digital payment app MobilePe and its group companies from offering Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) services following a trademark infringement suit filed by PhonePe..In an interim order passed on October 19, Justice M Sundar held that the logos of the two apps were similar, and that a prima facie case of "possible deception" had been made out. .The Court invoked a previous judgment of the Supreme Court in Parle Products (P) Ltd v. JP and Co to say that it will avoid a side-by-side comparison of the two brands. Instead, it said that if one were to step into the shoes of a common man with "average intelligence," one would realise the similarities in the logos of PhonePe and MobilePe. "This Commercial Division compared the two marks by applying the Parle principle being ratio laid down by Hon'ble Supreme Court, i.e., avoiding side by side comparison, stepping into the shoes of a man of average intelligence with ordinary prudence and imperfect recollection. A prima facie case qua possible deception has been made out," the order stated..It also issued notice to Google and Apple in PhonePe's prayer for directions to remove the listing of the MobilePe app from Google Play Store and App Store, respectively..During the hearings, Senior Advocate PS Raman, who appeared for PhonePe, had told the Court that his client was the 'registrant' or the proprietor of the PhonePe trademark. It was further argued that PhonePe had sent a cease and desist notice to the MobilePe in June this year, and further notices were exchanged between the two parties following which it was assumed that MobilePe will not pursue its trademark registration application. However, PhonePe came to know that MobilePe's trade registration application was accepted by the authorities on August 29 this year, following which PhonePe moved the High Court. .The Court said that in light of the above submissions, a case for urgent interim relief within the meaning of Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act was prima facie made out. It, however, added that the rights of MobilePe and other defendants made party to the suit were protected in terms of contesting the issue. It also said that MobilePe could continue with activities such wallet recharge, or any other business activity except for UPI and BHIM services."Therefore, prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable legal injury parameters have impelled this Commercial Division to grant this limited order of status quo as of today. For the purpose of specificity, it is made clear that the defendants 1 to 6 can continue with all other business activities which they are carrying on as of today with the aforementioned competing marks which can be broadly referred to as wallet recharge unhindered by this interim order of status quo," the order stated.Justice Sundar, however, made it clear that this was a prima facie view, subject to contestation..Along with Raman, Advocates H Siddarth and P Giridharan appeared for PhonePe..[Read Order]