Mumbai: What’s in a name, one may say, but when it comes to a brand name, a lot can be on stake. Which is why Yulu Bikes, the micro mobility and EV start-up got a Karnataka Court to stop Kinetic Green from using the Zulu brand name, which the latter launched as an e-scooter in December last year. After a brief legal battle, the two parties ‘have reached a compromise’, and the matter is resolved now.ETAuto learns that after settling the matter out of court, a Compromise Petition was filed in the Commercial Courts last week. With this move both parties will withdraw their respective contests in the courts. Under the settlement terms,Kinetic Green will rechristen the Zulu e-scooter as e-Zulu ‘shortly’. It will have another naming layer of Kinetic Green or KG in front of the tweaked brand name.
“We are quite satisfied with the compromise reached, which enables us to take ahead the brand equity created in our Zulu e-scooter, and adopt it with an “e”, making it quite effortlessly consistent with our EV branding philosophy, for example- with our”e-Luna“, says Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder and CEO, Kinetic Green.
Commenting on the development in the trademark dispute case, Yulu’s co-founder and CEO, Amit Gupta says, “EV mobility has huge growth potential, and offers sufficient room for all players to chart their unique paths and resolve concerns amicably. We are glad to have reached a win-win solution with Kinetic Green.”
The compromise agreement with Yulu Bikes also allows Kinetic Green a period of 12 months from the date of the Compromise Petition to liquidate its existing stock of ‘Zulu’ branded e-scooters.
Growth outlook with the renewed ride
Along with the e-Luna, the most affordable EV in Kinetic Green’s portfolio with an entry price of INR 70,000, the now e-Zulu is expected to bag volumes for the EV maker which has a target of touching the 1 million units mark annually by 2029, and also clock a INR 10,000 crore turnover by that year.
With the trademark infringement issue resolved, Kinetic Green plans to begin promotion and sales of the e-scooter ‘immediately’, and targets to sell 25,000 units of Zulu/e-Zulu over the next one year.The Zulu had sold 3,000 units before the lawsuit by Yulu Bikes halted its ride.
E-mobility: the ultimate winner
According to a source, the court debates were also followed by some “mature discussions”, and that helped the two parties reach a middle ground. With the little tweaked brand name, Kinetic Green doesn’t have to depart much from the name ‘Zulu’, while for Yulu a ‘Kinetic e-Zulu’ will ensure there’s no “confusion” related to the brand names in the marketplace.
And, with this “win-win solution”, the bigger winner is electric mobility. “It also provides the right signal that this is the time for pioneering players like Kinetic Green and Yulu to promote e-mobility as a larger goal, in a spirit of collaboration and commercial understanding,” says Motwani.
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