Hari Puttar, name game over film: HC rejects Warner Bros´ plea

- Planet Bollywood Special Correspondant           Let us know what you think about this story

"Warner Bros has failed to establish a prima facie case for grant of an ad interim injunction in it's favour. The balance of convenience also tilts heavily in favour of the defendants (producers of Hari Puttar...) who have invested huge sum of money...," Justice Khetrapal said.

She held that the Hollywood production house has failed to establish that an irreparable loss or injury will result on the release of the Indian film.

The Bench also held the company, which has got copyright for Harry Potter, has approached the Court just before the release of the film while the film was being produced for the last two years.

The Hollywood production house had contended that the producers of the Indian film had intentionally chosen the title 'Hari Puttar...', which sounds phonetically and structurally similar to popular trademark Harry Potter.

It contended that the Indian film's name would create confusion among cinegoers. The producer of the film, Mirchi Movies Limited, the entertainment arm of Times Group, refuted the allegations that the film's title was in any way similar to Harry Potter because it is based on an original literary work with no resemblance to Potter.

The Bollywood production house had said the title 'Hari Puttar...' is not associated with Harry Potter and in Hindi and Punjabi it means God's son. The movie is scheduled for worldwide release in Hindi and English on Friday.

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