Safaricom sues Airtel in M-Pesa trademark dispute

Safaricom has taken rival telecommunications company Airtel to court on claims that it is infringing on its M-Pesa trademark by including its symbols on its advertising billboards.

Safaricom has filed pictures in court that it claims show evidence of Airtel Kenya’s usage of signs that are identical to two of its registered M-Pesa trademarks for the promotion and marketing of Airtel Money, its mobile cash transfer service.