Trademark Dispute: Delhi HC Rules In Favour Of Zepto Parent

Quick commerce major Zepto’s parent Kiranakart recently saw an almost year-long trademark dispute case culminating in its favour in the Delhi high court. 

The court ruled in favour of the four-year old startup’s plea to get the trademark ‘Zepto’, registered by Mohammad Arshad on July 14, 2014, removed from the register of trade marks.

Judge Amit Bansal ruled in favour of Zepto’s present rectification petition on March 3 observing that Zepto has been using the trademark continuously and extensively since July 2021 in India and has gained reputation under the brand logo. 

On the other hand, the court observed that the impugned trademark was never commercially used by Arshad over the past eight years. Thus, it found the latter’s argument devoid of any merits. 

“The respondent no.1 (Arshad’s Zepto) has no bona fide intention to use the impugned mark in relation to the services claimed in the impugned registration. Nearly 8 years have passed since the date when the impugned mark was entered on the Register of Trade Marks, however, the respondent no.1 has failed to use the impugned mark in relation to the aforesaid services in class 35 till date. Therefore, the impugned mark is merely a block on the Register of Trade Marks,” the order said. 

As per the court order, Arshad’s Zepto has been engaged in services related to distribution of smart phones, phone accessories, computer software and telephone instruments, among others.

This Zepto registered for the mark with effect from July 14, 2014 with a user claim since April 1, 2011 under Trademark Class 9 and Class 35. 

The quick commerce major submitted that Arshad had filed the aforesaid opposition against its trade mark application “merely to unjustly delay the registration and harass the petitioner.”

It pointed out that the dishonesty in the claim was evident as Arshad had approached Zepto in July 2024 to settle the case. The settlement didn’t materialise as Zepto figured that Arshad “was merely attempting to extort money under the garb of amicable resolution.”

In its ruling, the court observed that since there was no reply or appearance from Arshad during the hearings. 

The court noted that Arshad failed to file a reply to the petition or appear during the hearings, leading to the admission of Kiranakart’s petition. 

“A perusal of Section 47(1)(b) of the Act would reveal that a registered trade mark is liable to be taken off the Register of Trade Marks if up to a date three months prior to the date of filing of the rectification petition, the same is not used in relation to those goods/ services in respect of which it is registered for a continuous period of at least five years from the date on which the mark is entered in the Register of Trade Marks,” the court said. 

It is pertinent to mention that the startup submitted to the court that it is currently operating  approximately 350 stores/ delivery hubs (dark stores), employs over a 1000 professionals and 40,000 delivery executives. At present, it said that Zepto has a presence in over 10 cities across India and over 8 Mn customers have placed orders on its platform.

While announcing a fundraise of $665 Mn last June, Zepto then said it was looking to double its dark store count to 700 by March this year from 350 at that point. There hasn’t been any official communication on the startup’s dark store count since then. 

However, recent reports suggest that the startup surpassed 900 dark stores back in January 2025, exceeding its earlier target of 700 by March. Further, it has also reportedly set its sights on dark store network expansion post the 1,000 stores mark.

In comparison, Zepto’s larger competitor Blinkit was operating 1,007 dark stores at the end of December quarter. Swiggy too had increased its dark store count by 96 in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) to take its dark store count to 705. 

After raising about $1 Bn last year to fuel its rapid expansion, Zepto is now looking to file for an $800 Mn–$1 Bn IPO soon. The startup’s offering size is now expected to exceed $800 Mn, including $300–400 Mn in shares sold via an offer for sale (OFS) and an increased primary fundraise through new share issuance.

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