Publishing house Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) has filed a suit in the Bombay High Court against a Kerala-based film producer for allegedly infringing the name of its famous story book character "Shikari Shambu" without permission. The suit was filed yesterday and was taken up for hearing by Justice S J Kathawalla, who after hearing arguments agreed with the publishing house. The ACK claimed that despite being in negotiations for the license to use the registered name, S K Lawrence, the producer of the movie "Shikari Shambu", released it last month. "Shikari Shambu" was a hunter character whose stories appeared regularly in Amar Chitra Katha's Tinkle book for children. When the matter was heard, the producer who was present in the high court, agreed to pay the publishing house the license amount and to never use the name again without seeking prior permission.
Following this the court disposed of the suit. The ACK claimed that it became aware of the title of the film in September or October 2017, and subsequently issued a cease and desist notice to the defendants on October 3 last year. The defendants reverted to ACK, expressing their desire to obtain the necessary license from the publishing house for the use of the registered trademark. They also sent the publishers a synopsis of the story- line of the film for their approval. These acts were an unequivocal acceptance by the defendants of the fact that the"Shikari Shambu"mark was the intellectual property of the ACK, according to the complaint.
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