A Montreal restaurant is in trouble for committing foul play with the Habs and the NHL.
After hanging a banner that contained unauthorized use of the Habs logo, the NHL and the Montreal Canadiens hockey club are suing the restaurant for $89,000.
“There is no way I can come up with this money, I am not going to pay them,” said Basha restaurant owner, Fadl Issa.
“I wanted only to do publicity for the Canadiens…. We are Canadians and we should be proud to support our own team,” he said.
Rules to follow
But the NHL and Habs hockey club say there are rules the restaurant should have followed.
It all started on December 16, 2010.
That’s when Basha restaurant hung a giant banner containing the Canadiens’ copyrighted symbol.
The 20ft x 10ft banner stretched down the back of the building, located on Ste-Catherine Street at Drummond Street, visible from the Bell Centre.
That same day, Issa received a letter from a lawyer representing the NHL and the Canadiens.
It demanded the banner be taken down, citing unauthorized use of the Canadiens symbol.
Issa responded by removing the CH on the picture.
Second complaint
He then received a second letter, dated Jan. 20, 2010, stipulating he remove the “Go Habs Go” slogan.
Issa then removed the trademarked phrase and put the banner back up.
Then, two months later, he received a third letter, dated March 15, 2011.
This letter complained he had not removed the representation of the Habs jersey (a sweater including the red, blue and white colour scheme).
Issa took the banner down shortly after receiving the third letter.
$1,000/day
The Montreal Canadiens and the NHL evaluated the unauthorized use of the Canadiens trademark as having been worth $1,000 per day that the banner was up.
In addition to the $89,000 lawsuit, the NHL and the Canadiens are also seeking punitive damages and demanding Issa pay their legal fees.
The NHL says if the restaurant had hung an official Habs flag, there would not have been any trademark violations.
Issa said he’s driven around Montreal and has spotted other businesses using the Habs logo.
“I was surprised, why they come only after me?” he said.
He also said since he accommodated their requests, the situation should be case-closed.
“I do step by step [meeting lawyers requests], I took it down, it’s ended,” he said.
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