There’s a lot of cases being filed lately for patent infringement in the mobile space, or in layman’s terms, imitation.  And Square, the mobile payments service provider, just sent a cease and desist letter to mPowa, a UK-based startup that offers similar services as Square.

The funny thing about this is that Square is not complaining about how similar their dongles are or how their services are so very much alike.  Square is complaining that mPowa is using their pictures – as in pictures of how to use their dongle.

“The copying of Square’s image is clear and obvious,” Square wrote in their C&D letter. “Indeed, it appears that mPowa’s infringement is intentional and deliberate, and that mPowa’s attempt at imitation may extend to other key Square intellectual property, including the Square Website and Square’s trademarks and trade dress.”

Though the letter focused on the images used by mPowa, which can’t be denied that looks very, very similar to Square’s, it seems like there’s more to the matter.  Square wants to know who was responsible for lifting images on their site and using it on mPowa’s own website, as well as the extent of copying done by the accused.

Of course, mPowa dismissed the letter stating that it was just a petty attempt at diversion.  mPowa recently made their service available in the US and interest in their service was better than expected.

“We think this is a petty attempt to divert our focus from trying to capture a meaningful share of the mobile POS market,” said Dan Wagner, the CEO of mPowa. “It won’t deter us from our focus, and everything contained in the legal missive is completely unfounded.”

Though they didn’t come right out and say it, it seems like what mPow was getting to is that Square is threatened by their service since they have a broader reach.  Their service is available for more platforms, whereas Square is only available for Android and iOS devices.