Letter change gets firm off the hook

A court yesterday dismissed a claim for contempt of court filed by the Director of the Civil Courts and Tribunals against ITC Limited, after the latter coined the name "Octoberfest" for an activity instead of the term "Oktoberfest" which it had been barred from using.

Mr Justice Raymond C. Pace in the First Hall of the Civil Court heard that in October 2005 a warrant of prohibitory injunction was issued against ITC Ltd at the request of LMB Breweries.

In terms of this warrant, ITC Ltd was prohibited from in any manner organising or promoting any activity under the name of "Oktoberfest".

However, LMB Breweries claimed that ITC Ltd had disregarded the warrant and had, in October 2005, carried out an activity under the name of "Octoberfest".

LBM Breweries requested the Director of Courts to file proceedings against ITC Limited for contempt of court.

The Director of Courts then requested the First Hall of the Civil Court presided over by Mr Justice Pace to find ITC Ltd in contempt of court.

On its part, ITC Ltd pleaded that it had not violated the warrant as it had changed the name of its activity to "Octoberfest" from "Oktoberfest".

The two names, said the company, were distinct from one another.

The court ruled that the company had not been prohibited from using the name "Octoberfest", and that as a result there was no case of contempt of court.