The inside story of the Khatabook-Dukaan mess

Why read this story?

Editor's note: The public details of the case are as follows. In mid-August 2020, a company that goes by the name Growthpond Technologies alleged that its app had been plagiarized by another company called Kyte Technologies Inc., which popularly goes by the name Khatabook. The app in question is called Dukaan, which translates to "shop" in English.  The issue came to light when Khatabook launched its own app called Dukaan by Khatabook, and the similarities with Growthpond’s app didn’t just stop at the name. The logo used by Khatabook was eerily similar, and so were the colour scheme and user interface. If you removed the name Dukaan by Khatabook, it would be difficult for anyone to tell the two apps apart. Not surprisingly, Growthpond Technologies was pissed. The company said that it would take Khatabook to task. Soon enough it came through on the threat by filing a complaint of plagiarism, and a civil suit for damages in Gurugram, Haryana. In response to this suit, Khatabook approached the Karnataka High Court with a writ petition alleging that Growthpond Technologies had stolen its …