A MOVIE giant has taken legal action to stop a humble Nottingham sandwich salesman using a logo similar to the one in the Godfather films.
Ayaz Ahmed registered the trademark for a puppet-string logo, connected with the words "The Cobfather", to be used on products at his sandwich shop of the same name in West End Arcade.
But Paramount Pictures Corporation – which released the Oscar-winning gangster series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino – convinced the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) to make an order he can't refuse – revoking Mr Ahmed's trademark.
The film maker's argument was that after registering the trademark he did not put it into regular use.
However, Mr Ahmed put forward witness statements suggesting he had. Unfortunately for him, UKIPO upheld Paramount's case and ordered him to pay £1,300 towards the American movie giant's legal costs.
UKIPO official, George Salthouse, said the trademark was registered by Mr Ahmed for use on "cobs, sandwiches, foodstuffs in the nature of spreads, drinks, desserts" on December 15, 2006.
He said 'The Cobfather' was a sandwich shop which provided cobs and other snacks.
"I note," Mr Salthouse added, "that a cob is, among other things, the name given to a round bread roll."
Mr Ahmed said he had used his distinctive "Cobfather" design on packaging for sandwiches, cobs, drinks bags, flyers and the shop's sign. One customer said in a written statement: "I have eaten cobs from there and can confirm that many people ate there."
Nottingham City Council, however, had no record of the shop being open after June 5, 2007, when the business had ceased trading, Mr Salthouse added.
In December, 2010, Paramount applied for the trademark to be revoked, claiming Mr Ahmed had failed to use it on the goods mentioned in the registration within the required five-year period after it was granted.
Paramount argued that none of Mr Ahmed's "scant" evidence proved he had made more recent use of the trademark for branding his goods.
Ruling in Paramount's favour, Mr Salthouse concluded: "To my mind the evidence does not support the assertion of Mr Ahmed that he used the mark upon the goods for which it is registered.
"At best it shows that, for a brief period of time, he ran a shop under the mark which sold snacks such as crisps and sandwiches.
"This might support a registration for a retail service but not for the goods themselves. The mark must therefore be regarded as revoked in full."
The Godfather was famous for a scene in which a horse's head was placed in a victim's bed. David Rose, of Eric Rose's Music Inn – which is opposite the former Cobfather shop – joked: "Are they going to put A horse's head in his bed? I can't think that a big company like that needs the money – talk about using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut."
Mr Rose added: "He was only here for nine months and there has been another shop since."
Other food-related movies:
The Prawn Supremacy
Texas Chainsaw Moussaka
Lamb Shank Redemption
Jurassic Pork
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