Sofort GmbH, a subsidiary of the Swedish payment giant Klarna, has filed a lawsuit against the Munich-based startup Fintecsystems at the Munich Regional Court.
Anyone who frequently shops online is probably familiar with the payment service provider Sofortüberweisung (instant bank transfer): To pay for their ordered goods immediately, a buyer provides the payment service with their bank details, online PIN, and a valid TAN. The service then completes the transfer and confirms it to the merchant, who can then ship the goods immediately. This payment method is provided by Sofort GmbH, founded in 2005 and part of the Swedish Klarna Group since 2014.
The Munich startup Fintecsystems primarily offers financial and account information that banks use as a basis for online lending and credit checks, as well as a white label payment service. In addition, Fintecsystems has also been operating Sofortpay since July of this year. The service functions very similarly to Sofortüberweisung and is therefore in direct competition with the Klarna subsidiary. The Klarna subsidiary now considers its rights to be violated by the choice of name, as it stated:
"By naming its offer, FinTecSystems violates the trademark rights of Sofort GmbH, which also constitutes a violation of competition law. Sofort GmbH invokes, among other things, Section 5 (2) of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) and Section 5 (2) in conjunction with Section 15 of the Trademark Act."
The Klarna Group explains:
"German consumers have known and trusted the Sofortüberweisung payment method for years. Fintecsystems' use of a similar-sounding name for a payment solution is misleading, as argued in the complaint, and creates a risk of confusion. The company is thus taking advantage of Sofortüberweisung's good reputation. Imitating competitors' goods and services constitutes an obstacle to competition."
In addition, according to Klarna, the founders of Fintecsystems had previously worked for Sofort GmbH for many years.
Fintecsystems: “We are still interested in a constructive solution”
In a statement to the industry blog Finanz-Szene.de Fintecsystems is particularly surprised by the timing of the lawsuit:
"We have been in constructive discussions with Klarna AB on this issue for several weeks and therefore regret this lawsuit, which we only received at the end of week 47. We remain interested in a constructive solution and are continuing to work intensively toward it. Please understand that due to the recent receipt of the lawsuit, we are currently reviewing our legal steps and cannot provide any further information at this time."
