THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an important verdict related to intellectual property right by relatively small trademark units, the additional district court has passed an injunction order barring a Poojappura-based hotel from using the brand name ‘Kochannan’s hotel’ on the basis of a complaint filed by the original brand owner Safeer P, who runs the famous “Kochannan Sahib’s Hotel and Restaurant” at Karamana.
Safeer had taken the legal recourse after his brother Firoz Khan, who relinquished all the rights over the eatery in 2019 that their father started 66 years ago, opened a new shop at Poojappura and named it “Kochannan’s hotel”.
Judge R Jayakrishnan brushed aside Firoz’s argument that the bone of contention was originally the property dispute between the two siblings. The judge stated that “Kochannan Sahib’s Hotel and Restaurant is a trademark registered by Safeer, who runs the Karamana hotel and Firoz using the name “Kochannan’s hotel” was an infringement of the trademark of the petitioner. Safeer was represented by lawyers Bindu Sankarapillai and Khaleel Bin Rafeeq.