'Imperial' trademark dispute: HC says yes to settlement among Akoi family

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday gave its go ahead to a settlement arrived by warring family members of the Akoi family over the trademark ‘Imperial’ of The Imperial Hotel at Janpath, New Delhi, bringing the curtain down on a 16-year-old lawsuit.

 

Justice Mini Pushkarna said the settlement terms were lawful.

 

“The parties affirm and confirm that except for the present suit, no other inter-se proceedings or complaint of any nature whatsoever, has been filed/pending with any Court/Tribunal/Authority, etc. in relation to the trademark: Imperial. Both the parties are held bound by the terms of the settlement,” the court order said.

 

The court noted that that the trademark ‘Imperial’ is jointly owned by Hardev Singh Akoi (50 per cent) and his brother late Jasdev Singh Akoi’s children, Raidev Singh Akoi (25 per cent), and Gobind Singh Akoi (25 per cent).

 

The dispute was for the ‘Imperial’ trademark and its lion logo on which brothers Hardev Singh Akoi and Jasdev Singh Akoi, joint owners of the hotel, disagreed over certain changes to the trademark and its use.

 

Hardev had alleged that Jasdev had unilaterally made changes to the trademark and moved the court to prevent its unauthorised use.

 

In 2008, the Delhi High Court had restrained Jasdev Singh from modifying the trademark without the permission of Hardev Singh.

 

After this the case was referred to mediation.