Winzo drags Mobile Premier League to Delhi HC over alleged copyright infringement of ‘World War’ game

Backed by California-based Griffin Gaming Partners, Winzo claims that in March 2022 it found out that MPL had copied one of its proprietary formats ‘World War’ with an identical name.

Winzo said in a press statement on Saturday that MPL took down the format soon after it was notified, but in a turn of events the Bengaluru-based gaming unicorn restarted using it under a different name in April, it said.

Following this Winzo, which was founded in 2018 by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh, sent a legal notice to MPL. But with MPL’s refusal to cease and desist from taking down the format, WinZo has gone ahead and filed a suit in Delhi High Court seeking an injunction to restrain MPL from continuing to use it.

Winzo alleges that MPL has engaged in “copyright infringement, passing off and unfair competition.”

In a press statement, Winzo said the matter was heard by the Delhi HC on June 3 and MPL’s counsel agreed to stop using the “World War” – for which Winzo holds copyrights – and was willing to give an undertaking that the mark “World War” would not be used by MPL in its game and offers.

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A spokesperson of MPL didn’t immediately respond to ETtech’s query on Winzo’s press statement.

Concerning the other allegations made by Winzo, MPL’s counsel said that it would attempt to resolve the matter through negotiations with the company. The matter is now listed for further proceedings on July 4.

MPL entered the unicorn club last September at a valuation of $2.3 billion. Amid a global funding slowdown, the company announced laying off around 100 people, and exiting the Indonesian market.

Founded in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubam Malhotra, MPL offers around 70 games across categories such as daily fantasy sports, quizzing, board games, Esports, and casual games on its Android and iOS apps.