Facebook recently showed its anti-social behavior when it pulled down the page of Houzify, a Bangalore-based home improvement startup whose investors include T V Mohandas Pai and InMobi’s Naveen Tewari – on the basis of a complaint from US-based Houzz. In a legal glitch Houzz had sent a legal notice to Houzify over trademark infringement issue.
Houzify says that the Facebook Page was shut down without any notice from Facebook. Neither did they give any forewarning or called for consulting over the matter. This direct action taken by facebook came as a shock!
Gunaseelan Radhakrishnan, Co-founder & CEO of Houzify, described the action as “execution without trial”, while Pai said it “demonstrates the danger India and startups here face because of the monopoly of Facebook and its bad and unreliable behavior”.
Houzify was given a legal notice earlier on 16th December, 2015 which alleged that the company has been using a similar trademark.” Additionally, the services provided by your client under the impugned marks also directly conflict with the services our client has been providing,” the notice reads further.
But even as the actions were still in process, Houzz acted smartly and targeted its Facebook page that had some 52k followers on Facebook, and was a core marketing element for this 18-month-old venture. After the complaints, Facebook’s India representative said the matter was being looked into and said it would take at least one more day to reach to a decision.
This action taken by Facebook was quite upsetting for the several entrepreneurs who considered Facebook as one of the reliable source for Advertising their products. With its monopolistic stage, Facebook has surely started to work things in his own way, which several times is disappointing for the general customers.
“This act by Houzz and the sudden shutting down of Houzify by Facebook impinges on the principles of natural justice and demonstrates the danger India and startups here face because of the monopoly of Facebook and its bad and unreliable behavior.” Says Mohandas Pai.
May be its time for the Indian Startup culture to take a breakthrough and start a culture of their own.