PayPal complains against Paytm for trademark infringement

[Miss Alone]

PayPal, the global payments firm, has filed a trademark infringement complaint with the Indian Trademark office against India’s largest mobile wallet company, Paytm, on using similar colours in its logo.

The complaint stated that Paytm had no reason to do so if it did not want to take advantage of PayPal’s global reputation and use it to grow its user base.

“(Paytm) slavishly adopted the two-tone blue colour scheme of PayPal in its entirety. While the first syllable in each mark is in dark blue colour, the second syllable adopts a light blue colour… Further, both marks begin with the term ‘PAY’ which consumers tend to remember more than the second syllable, with the marks being of similar length,” the PayPal notice said.

Paytm did not respond to HT’s calls.

PayPal’s move to strike down on Paytm comes at a time when the Indian payments solution company is adding more than half a million new users every day after demonetization. The trademark infringement complaint can reduce Paytm’s growth momentum.

PayPal is not the first company trying to pull down Paytm. Indian rival MobiKwik’s Bipin Preet Singh said that Paytm is using foreign investments to acquire consumers through cashbacks, and that the method is not a sustainable business model. That though is not new in India’s internet companies. Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues and Ola – all use foreign investment to fund discounts to acquire customers.

However, if PayPal is able to win an argument against Paytm in the trademark battle, the later will have to change the colour scheme of its logo, making a significant dent in the company’s identity, especially as it has been spending millions in advertising since demonetization.

PayPal has been using its trademark since 1999, and has appealed before the trademark registration body to refuse Paytm’s application for trademark registration.

Paytm is not the first new age company to get embroiled in a trademark fight – Zomato, which started as Foodiebay faced opposition from Ebay.

 

[kit walker]

copying is not a bad idea while in india. International company mostly restrain from such moves. Let us see what is outcome of the case.