KUALA LUMPUR, 5 June 2018:
The High Court here yesterday ordered manufacturer, distributor and rice retailer company Faiz Rice Sdn Bhd to pay RM4,160,000 in damages to Syarikat Faiza Sdn Bhd for copyright infringement.
Judgment on the assessment of damages was issued by judge Datuk Wong Kian Kheng in a lawsuit over copyright and trademark infringement and unauthorised intervention in business between Datuk Faiza Bawumi Sayed Ahmad and son Fikri Abu Bakar.
Faiza Bawumi is the managing director of Syarikat Faiza Sdn Bhd while Fikri is the managing director of Syarikat Faiz Rice.
Faiza Bawumi and Syarikat Faiza Sdn Bhd, named as the first and second plaintiffs, filed the suit against Fikri and Syarikat Faiz Rice, named as the first and second defendants.
On 24 Oct 2017, Wong found Faiz Rice and Fikri responsible for copyright and trademark infringement – passing off goods by using the plaintiff’s trade name and unlawfully interfering in the plaintiff’s business.
In yesterday’s proceedings, Wong ordered Faiz Rice and Fikri to pay RM3.9 million in compensatory damages, exemplary and aggravated damages of RM100,000, damages for loss of goodwill RM100,000 and statutory damages RM60,00O.
In his judgment, he said commercial copyright infringement was carried out openly by Faiz Rice and Fikri – which clearly affected the good name of Syarikat Faiza.
“The witness’ testimony also shows that since Faiz Rice’s entry into the market, Syarikat Faiza suffered significant losses in a short time, so the court has set compensatory damages at RM3.9 million.”
Subjects in the suit are six Faiza copyright rice brands, namely Taj Mahal, Moghul Faiza Basmathi, Faiza (registered in the name of the plaintiff Faiza TM), Faiza Rice for Life, Faiza Emas and Faiza logo (registered in the name of the plaintiff Faiza Logo TM).
The plaintiff claimed the defendant infringed the copyright and trademark of the rice packing, passing off the goods by using their trade name as well as unlawful intervention in their business.
Both plaintiffs also claimed the defendant infringed the copyright of the Faiza TM logo and unlawfully interfered with her trading business by infringing on the copyright of the logo.
– Bernama