Warner Bros. asks court to jail director of unlicensed Harry Potter-themed cafe

Warner Bros. Entertainment has filed a writ to ask the High Court to jail the director of 9 3/4 cafe, an unlicensed Harry Potter-themed restaurant in Mong Kok, for failing to remove and dismantle relevant materials and decorations as previously ordered by the court. 

Apart from jailing the director Kelvin Ching Kai-lim for contempt of court, Warner Bros. also asks the court to impose a fine on Ching’s company – D.K.A.J. Limited and cover all legal costs. 

According to the writ filed on Tuesday, Warner Bros. first sued Ching and his company for trademark and copyright infringement on January 15, 2019. 

The trial judge later ruled in favor of Warner Bros. and ordered the defendants to remove or dismantle all banners, signs, and promotional materials bearing the term “9 3/4 cafe”. The cafe was ordered to remove any reference to the term and to disclose all its audited accounts to Warner Bros. as well. 

The solicitors for Warner Bros. then conducted two on-site inspections on September 19 and December 12 last year and found that the cafe was still in operation under the name of 9 3/4 cafe and didn’t remove the Harry Potter-themed banners and materials there. 

The cafe also didn’t shut down its social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and online dining guide OpenRice. 

Warner Bros. therefore filed the writ and asks the court to jail Ching and to impose a fine on D.K.A.J. Limited.