Signature money

Mumbai, Sept. 3: The Jet Airways trademark is now finally with the country’s largest private airline owned by Naresh Goyal. Jet Airways (India) Ltd today announced that it would pay Rs 30.44 crore to acquire the trademark from Jet Enterprises, a promoter company.

This was a demand raised by foreign institutional investors just before Jet Airways came out with its initial public offering.

The investors wanted the trademark and logo to vest with the airline instead of being owned by promoter companies.

In January, a month before the public issue, the Naresh Goyal-owned airline set in motion a plan to value the Jet Airways trademark. The valuation has been worked out at $7 million or around Rs 30.44 crore.

According to the merchant bankers who managed the Jet flotation, foreign investors had felt that the airline should own the rights for the trademark, instead of a company fully-owned by the promoters.

In its prospectus, Jet Enterprises had said it would transfer and assign all its right, title and interest in the Jet Airways trademark, for a consideration to be determined by an independent firm.

Jet Airways had said it would conclude such transfers and assignments within a period of six months.

Sources say today’s announcement was in line with the commitment made during the IPO.

While the airline has finally settled the trademark issue, it is still confronted by Jet Airways Inc, a trading company which has demanded that the company abandon its application for registration in the US. The Delaware based corporation has managed to stop the company from flying to the US by filing a complaint with the US transport authorities.

Jet Airways is fighting the case in the US tribunal for some months now. The dispute has temporarily forced the airline to shelve its plans to fly to the US.

It also has a case filed by ConocoPhillips on the ground that Jet Enterprises trademark application is similar to their JET trademark and the goods sought to be protected by Jet Enterprises application are similar to their goods.