The Supreme Court (MA) has dashed the hopes of Lau's Kopitiam owner, Phiko Leo Putra, to continue using the name 'kopitiam'. The MA instead asked Phiko to change the name 'kopitiam' because the KOPITIAM brand is exclusively owned by Abdul Alex Soelystio. Even though, 'kopitiam' means 'coffee shop'.

 

Regarding the verdict, Lau's Kopitiam's legal counsel was not yet willing to comment on their loss at the Judicial Review (PK) level. Lau's side chose to comment cautiously while awaiting the official copy of the verdict from the MA.

 

"We are not yet willing to comment because we are still awaiting the official copy from the MA," said Lau's Kopitiam's legal counsel, Panji Prasetyo, when contacted on Monday (04/20/2015).

 

In line with Panji, Alex's legal counsel, who has won two lawsuits for the 'kopitiam' brand, also chose to comment cautiously. According to him, the kopitiam dispute is a dispute that concerns the general public, so his party cannot comment before obtaining the official copy from the MA.

 

"I will read the considerations first, then I can comment. Because this is a public issue and we must be careful in addressing it," said Alex's legal counsel, Susi Tan, when contacted separately.

 

Previously, Alex had won lawsuits against Pamin Halim, owner of Kok Tong Kopitiam and QQ Kopi Tiam. The panel of judges in those two verdicts stated that Alex is the official holder of the KOPITIAM brand.

 

The third lawsuit filed by Lau's Kopitiam also ended the same way. The Judicial Review chaired by Syamsul Ma'arif PdD with members Prof Dr Takdir Rahmadi and Hamdi stated that Lau's Kopitiam has similarities with KOPITIAM and ruled that Phiko must change his shop's brand. The verdict was issued on May 22, 2014. The panel of judges consisted of chairman Syamsul Maarif PhD and members Prof Dr Takdir Rahmadi and Hamdi.

 

The controversy arose because 'kopitiam' comes from the Chinese language meaning 'coffee shop'. The owners were surprised because the court recognized Abdul Alex as the holder of the 'KOPITIAM' brand, as a 'word', not as a 'logo'. Even though based on the brand rights issued by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Abdul Alex holds brand rights for the 'KOPITIAM' logo and not the word 'kopitiam', so other coffee shop owners do not have substantial similarities with the KOPITIAM logo brand, as long as the spelling of 'kopitiam' does not resemble the KOPITIAM logo.

 

So, is KOPITIAM substantially similar to Lau's Kopitiam and KOK TONG Kopitiam?

 

Source: detik.com