Pine Labs-Innoviti patent infringement case moved to Karnataka High Court

Last week, Bengaluru-based payment technology firm Innoviti sued Pine Labs for infringement on its patent for technology enabling UPI at point of sale terminals

Pine Labs on Wednesday said that after challenging the allegations of patent infringement and validity of generic patent grant and filing its counterclaim for revocation of the patent, the City Civil Court in Bengaluru has moved the matter to Karnataka High Court. The court also modified its earlier order to remove references of the Noida-based digital payment company’s  product ‘Plutus Smart’ or to its dynamic QR codes. 

Last week, Bengaluru-based payment technology firm Innoviti sued Pine Labs for infringement on its patent for technology enabling Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at point of sale terminals.

“While malicious rumours are still being circulated in the market, Pine Labs continues to adhere to compliance with the law of the land and shall ensure uninterrupted business for our customers,” said the company in a statement.

Innoviti had said it had filed the suit for infringement against Pine Labs before the City Civil Court, Bengaluru and had been granted an “ex-parte ad interim injunction” against Pine Labs with effect from July 16, 2019. This prevented Pine Labs from manufacturing, selling, distributing, exporting and dealing with this technology through its Plutus Smart or any other device in India, according to Innoviti. After that, Pine Labs filed its appearance before the court in Bengaluru on Monday refuting allegations of “patent infringement IN309274” and to confirm its non-infringing status in the matter.

Last month Walmart-owned online retailer Flipkart settled a legal dispute with preventive healthcare startup GOQii, which had alleged that it suffered losses because its products were being sold on the e-commerce platform at deep discounts. Ratan Tata-backed GOQii had taken legal action against Flipkart in a Mumbai court, alleging its smartwatch type health devices were being sold on the e-commerce platform at an unauthorised 70 to 80 per cent discount. This was in violation of its sales agreement with the marketplace.  The court restrained Flipkart and its sellers from selling GOQii products via an ad-interim order.