Almost a year after it completed the acquisition of Patni Computer Systems, US-based information technology services company iGate Corp on Monday said it had removed 'Patni' from its brand name. The Nasdaq-listed company would now be known as simply iGate rather than iGate Patni.

In January last year, iGate bought a stake of about 63 per cent stake in Patni, then India's sixth largest information technology firm, for $1.2 billion, (Rs6,400 crore). The company closed the acquisition on 12 May 2011.

The main reason for iGate dispensing with the Patni tag is because it is a family name, which means anyone named Patni can use it, including members of the founder's family. Narendra Patni, the founder of Patni Computer Systems, already has an unlisted firm called Patni Technologies. His nephew Apoorva Patni is also reported to be keen on pursuing the software business.

Phaneesh Murthy, chief executive officer of iGate , said, ''I have always articulated that Patni being a family name is difficult to protect in several of our markets. This brand change is in line with our vision of 'one company' that will follow the successful delisting offer process of Patni with the Indian stock exchanges.''

iGate completed the process of de-listing from Indian bourses last month, after announcing a buyback offer to its minority shareholders. The company offered Rs520 per share to acquire the remaining stake of close to 18 per cent for 100 per cent control of the company.

Shares of Patni Computer will be suspended from trading from 21 May and delisted from stock exchanges on 28 May last year.

After the merger of Patni with iGate, the company's revenue run rate crossed $1 billion, with a headcount of 27,000 employees.

Murthy said the company would engage with global customers to deliver ''high-impact outcomes'' through its proprietary iTops framework.

Patni Computer Systems perhaps started the information technology revolution in India back around 1988. This is the company where iconic Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy and most of the other founders of Infosys met.

"I learnt a lot at PCS. It is sad to see its demise," Narayana Murthy told The Economic Times. He also described Narendra's brother Ashok Patni as "one of the finest bosses anybody could have".

For those associated with Patni, retiring the brand signifies the end of an era where a new business model was created and the term 'offshoring' was coined. Apart from giving a fillip to India's nascent IT industry – which is now one of its biggest revenue earners – Patni also launched an idea taken up by international computer majors like IBM and Accenture.

Patni Computer, India's oldest IT firm, was conceived by Narendra Patni, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while living in a Boston apartment. He went on to set up the company in Pune.

Pradip P Shah, the chairman of IndiaAsia Fund Advisors who was on the board of Patni for several years until it was sold to iGate, credited the company with an open culture that empowered employees.

"It was family-controlled but not run like family business. It was not just about money; Narendra Patni was educated, as were all the brothers," he told ET.

Narendra Patni's brothers, Gajendra and Ashok, are both IIT alumni.