A legal battle has erupted over ownership of the Fort Gloster brandname at the Calcutta high court 130 years after a company with that name was incorporated.
Two factions of the Bangur group- G D and S K - have gone to court alleging that the Kankarias had violated their rights by using the Fort Gloster name, which Bangurs had purchased from a British firm half-a-century ago.
In a petition, the Bangurs sought injunction restraining the Kankarias from carrying on any business or trading under the Fort Gloster name.
The Kankarias declined to comment on the issue on the plea that the matter was sub judice.
Avanti Kumar Kankaria, the youngest brother of the family, looks after jute business, while Jai Kumar, the elder brother, oversees real estate and financial businesses.
The Bangur companies which moved court were Fort Gloster Industries Ltd, a cable maker controlled by the S K Bangur group, and Gloster Jute Mills of the G D Bangur group. The Court asked Kankarias to file affidavit in opposition by November 4.
The Bangurs were directed to file affidavit in reply by November 11. The case would be heard on November 17.
Sources in Registrar of Companies said the Kankarias had rechristened Ambica Yarn & Twine Mills Ltd as Fort Gloster Jute Manufacturing Company Private Ltd in March.
"According to the Companies Act, one can raise objections on a firm's name within a year of registration. The Bangurs have raised objections and the office was looking into it," a RoC source said.
Industry sources said Kankarias were selling products under the Fort Gloster name.
Availability of products with the same brandnames by two different groups was creating confusion among buyers and harming the image of premium products. Bangur products were highly rated in the market.
Fort Gloster was born when Maclester & Co., a British firm, acquired 2,000 acres of land on the river Ganges at Budge Budge, 20 km off Calcutta, to set up Fort Glocester Jute Manufacturing Company Ltd as the promoters hailed from Glocester.
Feeling that Indians would find it difficult to pronounce Glocester, the name was simplified to Fort Gloster.
