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Naan of that, judge orders copycat restaurant

Jay Ahmed, owner of the Shozna restaurant in Rochester
Jay Ahmed, owner of the Shozna restaurant in Rochester

An Indian restaurant has won a High Court battle against a copycat rival and been awarded £50,000 damages.

Jamal Ahmed, the owner of Rochester's Shozna, took legal action when he claimed nearby Shopna had deliberately chosen a similar name and duplicated Shozna's menu, logo and takeaway bags.

A judge issued an interim injunction against Shopna in April, ordering the curry house in Orion Road, Rochester, to change its name and stop copying Shozna's trademark materials.

Following a five-day court hearing, the judge has now made the injunction final and ordered Shopna to pay Mr Ahmed £50,000 damages.

Mr Ahmed said: "I am extremely relieved that the defendants have been restrained once and for all from using my name, my menus and my artwork.

"All I ever asked for is that the defendants change the name, I never wanted to make any money out of this nor did I ask for my costs."

Mr Ahmed claims that when the Shopna opened, his solicitors wrote to the owners saying if they changed the restaurant's name and gave £50 to charity, he would take no further action, but Shopna refused.

He added: "I then asked for countless meetings with them to try and sort matters out, but again they refused. It was not until I was forced to spend a lot of money to get the injunction to force them to change the name did they take any action.

"This whole matter has caused a lot of stress. I am pleased it is finally over."

Shozna, in Maidstone Road, has been established for 15 years and is a former Medway Restaurant of the Year.

Rival curry house Shopna, a takeaway that previously traded as Spice 2020, opened in February.

Mr Ahmed, who also has a restaurant in Strood High Street, said he was particularly disappointed an attempt was made to match his logo which features his sister - after whom he named Shozna.

Shopna proprietor Tufael Chowdhury was not available for comment after the latest High Court ruling.

In April, he said it was "never his intention" to copy Shozna.

Mr Chowdhury earlier said he was is in the process of changing his logos and menus to Moiyuree, the new name for his restaurant, but it is thought the business has now closed.

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