In a trademark infringement case filed by Walmart-backed payments gateway- PhonePe against AGF Finlease India’s digital lending agency, the Delhi High Court has restrained the latter from using ‘PhonePey Loan’ trademark on grounds of the same being deceptively similar to PhonePe’s trademark.
This comes in the aftermath of PhonePe moving Delhi HC with a suit against AGF Finlease for an interim injunction contending that not only is ‘PhonePey Loan’ deceptively similar to PhonePe but the agents from AGF Finlease allegedly misrepresented themselves to be from PhonePe’s loan department.
Responding to the same, AGF Finlease’s counsel contended that the agents were using the word ‘PhonePey’ and not ‘PhonePe’.
But the response couldn’t satisfy the Delhi HC and hence the same proceeded to grant an interim injunction in favour of PhonePe.
“Prima facie [case] has been made out for grant of injunction. Accordingly till the next date of hearing, Defendants 1 and 2 are restrained from selling, offering to sell- Phone Pe, Phone Pe Loan or any other mark, resulting in infringement of PhonePe mark,” the court observed.
In addition to this, Delhi HC also ordered Domain Name Registrar (DNR) GoDaddy to take down ‘PhonePey Loan’ website and directed Meta’s family of apps to take down the posts infringing the PhonePe mark.
