India Post has sent a showcase notice to payment major Paytm warning the latter must desist from the using word ‘Postcard.’
The government owned India Post has sent a showcase notice to payment major Paytm over usage of the word ‘postcard’ for its recently launched product. According to media reports, India Post has categorically stated in the notice that Paytm must desist from using the word ‘postcard’ as it has the sole right to use this word.
India Post, which is generally referred to as post office, has reportedly cited the IPO Act rules and regulations in its showcase notice. The postal agency claims that this act has granted sole prerogative right to it to use the word ‘postcard.’
Apparently, Paytm had used the word ‘postcard’ for a new product that was launched during the festive season of Raksha Bandhan. Named as ‘Paytm Postcard,’ the company positioned the product as a digital version of gifting money during the auspicious occasion.
The Noida based startup has so far not issued any statement on this matter. India Post has also so far refrained from commenting on this issue.
This is probably for the first time that a government owned agency has directly challenged one of India’s most sought after startups. The Alibaba backed Paytm is India’s second most valued tech startup, after Bengaluru based e-commerce major Flipkart.
For Paytm, however, this is second time that it has landed in a copy infringement mess. Last year, global payment major Paypal had filed a copy infringement case against the Noida based startup. It accused that Paytm’s logo had uncanny similarity with its logo, claiming that Paytm had copied its logo’s design and colour scheme.
