Harry Potter-themed cafe to pay compensation over copyright infringement to Warner Bros

Owners of Mong Kok's Harry Potter-themed cafe were ordered by High Court on Tuesday to pay compensation to Warner Bros. Entertainment over copyright infringement.

D.K.A.J. Limited and two owners of "9 3/4 Cafe" were charged with violating the intellectual property rights of Warner Bros and infringing trademarks of Harry Potter movies in 2019. The studio demanded an unspecified sum of damages and sought a removal order for the cafe to remove all promotional materials related to the movies.

Court of First Instance judge David Lok Kai-hong ordered the cafe and its owners today to stop using any of the trademarked properties from the movies, including the names of the characters, places, and spells in the cafe's product along with other decorations immediately.

The court also ordered the owners to reveal the cafe's earnings and compensate Warner Bros.

Lok stated that Harry Potter is a popular franchise, with most of the names appearing in the movie having been trademarked, and the cafe did not request permission from Warner Bros before it fully utilized the iconic elements seen in the film, which could result in affecting Warner Bros' business reputation.