Kazakhstani biometric startup Alaqan Group Limited is pursuing legal injunctions against fintech giant Kaspi.kz over the branding designation «Kaspi Alaqan». The startup contends that the banking titan’s palm-scan payment service infringes upon its prior registered trademark rights. The high-profile intellectual property dispute is being heard in the Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court of Astana.
School Biometric Pilot Deployed Since 2023
Alaqan pioneered palm-vein pattern authentication across Kazakhstan well before mainstream banking pilots emerged. In July 2023, the startup deployed «Alaqan Mektep» across secondary schools in Aktobe, replacing physical badges and cash cards with touchless palm-vein scanners for campus access and cafeteria meal disbursements.
The Startup’s Legal Arguments
Alaqan holds multiple registered trademarks for «Alaqan» covering software development, biometric identification, and financial transaction processing. The company argues that Kaspi’s adoption of «Kaspi Alaqan» creates severe market confusion, diluting the startup’s brand identity and misleading consumers into believing Alaqan was acquired by or merged with Kaspi.
Kaspi’s Defense Position
Kaspi maintains that the word «alaqan» is a common Kazakh noun meaning «palm» of the hand, used descriptively to explain the physical payment mechanic. Kaspi contends that appending its globally recognized flagship mark «Kaspi» precludes any consumer confusion, asserting that common anatomical terms cannot be monopolized for descriptive usage.
Why This IP Precedent Matters for Tech Founders
This landmark dispute represents a defining stress-test for intellectual property protections in Kazakhstan’s venture ecosystem. It highlights how emerging startups must defend proprietary trademarks against dominant corporate ecosystems, setting critical legal precedents for brand distinctiveness versus descriptive vocabulary in tech.
