Group company of Groww faces trademark passing off suit over ‘915trade’
Patil has sought a permanent injunction, rendition of accounts, and damages with 12% interest and costs.
Chandrakkanth Patil, a Bengaluru-based market data analyst, has filed a trademark passing-off case against Billionbrains Garage Ventures Pvt Ltd (BGV), a group company of Groww. The dispute has reached the Thiruvananthapuram District Court, which has issued notice and will hear the matter again on November 22.
Proprietor of 915trade, Patil, has alleged that BGV has launched a deceptively similar platform to his own, trying to misuse the goodwill built around his brand. He claims he has been operating under the trade name “915trade” since 2015 and launched the website www.915trade.com in November 2024. Using proprietary software developed by Patil, the platform offers subscription-based securities market analysis.
The term ‘915’ was chosen because it reflects the 9.15 am opening time of the Indian stock market and has become widely recognised among traders. Groww’s move to introduce similar branding and services under ‘915’ and ‘915 by Groww’ are efforts to take advantage of this recognition, his complaint states.
Groww issued him a cease-and-desist notice in August 2025, claiming rights over the proposed marks ‘915’ and “915 by Groww” under Class 36; Patil said. However, Patil argues that the notice fails to show any evidence of prior use. The notice itself, he says, acknowledges that Groww’s marks were only “proposed to be used,” not already in use.
Further, the plaintiff alleges that soon after the notice, BGV launched the website www.915.trade.comoffering similar data-based market analysis services. Several of his clients, especially in Kerala, mistook Growws platform for Patil’s due to the striking resemblance in the domain names and services. Patil argued that this confusion resulted in financial loss and damage to his professional reputation.
Patil contended that the defendants’ actions amount to a deliberate attempt to misuse the goodwill associated with his mark ‘“915trade.’ Patil has sought a permanent injunction, rendition of accounts, and damages with 12% interest and costs.