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The Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued an order on May 12, forbidding the Festival Management Committee (FMC) from using the trademark Caribana with immediate effect. The ruling was handed down in response to an injunction sought by the Caribana Arts Group (CAG), the owners of the Caribana Festival and trademark.

The FMC has been temporarily managing the festival since 2006, based on an agreement brokered by the City of Toronto between the CAG and the FMC that expired December 31, 2006. As a result of the court order the FMC has been forced to shut down the Web site, www.caribanafestival.com.

CAG chairman Henry Gomez states assertively, “It is the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC), now CAG, that has conceptualised, nurtured, managed and produced the internationally recognised Caribana Festival for 39 years. “It is also the CCC, a not for profit volunteer organisation, that transformed this Carnival Arts extravaganza into a financial juggernaut that benefits the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario.”

The board of directors of CAG has made innumerable attempts to negotiate and work with the FMC over the last five years, but the FMC reacted with intransigence and hubris. CAG was left with no other option but to seek injunctive relief from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

CAG remains open to signing a trademark licence and management agreement with the FMC for 2011 that respects the rights of the CAG as the owner of the Caribana Festival and Marks. The Caribana Festival was created in 1967 as the Caribbean contribution to Canada’s Centennial celebrations. The Caribana AGM will be held today, at Metro Hall, 55 John Street, from 1 pm.