Singapore, March 12, 2010 - Copycat versions of top restaurant's signature dishes abound in the world and Singapore like Nobu's miso cod and Tung Lok's wasabi prawns, but so far, no one has been sued.
But it does not pay when the copying includes more than just recipes and cooking tips to include things like serving pans, sauces, slogans, jingles as well as catch phrases.
The Manhattan Fish Market found itself in hot soup again when it lost a court case to Fish & Co. Restaurants.
It has to pay Fish & Co. RM$862,920.04 with 4 percent interest from 26 September 2005 to 5 March 2010 in a settlement decided by Malaysian High Court.
Fish & Co. Restaurants had commenced court proceedings in Malaysia and Singapore against the owners of The Manhattan Fish (Market Revenue Valley Sdn Bhd, MFM Restaurants Sdn Bhd and Northsouth Properties Sdn Bhd) in 2005 for the breach of a Settlement Deed.
Under the terms of the Settlement Deed, the owners of The Manhattan Fish Market in Malaysia and Singapore as well as an ex-employee of Fish & Co. are not to use serving pans, sauces, slogans and jingles, and words and phrases which were identical/ similar to those used by Fish & Co.
The legal dispute began in 2004 when Fish & Co. sued the same ex-employee for breach of his employment obligations under his Employment Agreement with Fish & Co.
Fish & Co. discovered that the ex-employee was involved in setting up “The Manhattan Fish Market” restaurant in Malaysia.
The spat was eventually settled out-of-court, and the ex-employee signed the Settlement Deed with Fish & Co. The owners of The Manhattan Fish Market in Singapore and Malaysia also signed the Settlement Deed with Fish & Co.
But some months later, Fish & Co. filed a new suit against the ex-employee and MFM, claiming its sales continued to be affected by MFM's deliberate breach of the deed as it failed to stop using aspects of its business which were similar to Fish & Co.'s.
In Singapore, the High Court recently ordered the Singapore MFM Parties to pay to Fish & Co. damages amounting to S$269,000.00 with 3 percent interest from 20 September 2005 to 26 November 2009.
Costs for both proceedings will be heard by the Singapore High Court and Malaysia High Court shortly.
Meanwhile, you might want to check out Fish & Co.'s latest outlet, F.I.S.H, a casual eatery which serves both meat and seafood dishes at 313@Somerset in Orchard Road.
ABOUT FISH & CO.
Fish & Co. is owned and managed by Fish & Co. Restaurants Pte Ltd, which runs a range of casual dining concepts. Also under its belt are thesimplelife (serving the best of Singaporean and Asian cuisine) and Giraffe (modern European restaurant-bar at Istana Park), F.I.S.H. (a mid range of entrees of meat, fish and seafood items and a salad bar) Chaozhou Inn (Chinese restaurant specialising in Teochew cuisine), Fish & Co. Express (a fast food seafood and chicken burger concept) and Sweet Spring (dessert cum dim sum café). Founded in December 1998 by Managing Director Ricky Chew and Senior Director Lambert Yeo, the Group manages a stable of successful F&B concepts locally and in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Dubai.
