Sweet Success for Brandsmiths’ Dessert Client

Seven figure settlement achieved during High Court trial

Brandsmiths, the leading intellectual property law firm based in London and Manchester, recently settled a long-running High Court dispute regarding ownership of the desserts brand Heavenly Desserts. Brandsmiths acted for Nizam Mohamed, who launched Heavenly Desserts in 2008.

On the second day of the seven-day High Court trial, Nizam Mohamed accepted an offer of a seven-figure settlement to transfer his rights in the Heavenly Desserts brand to an entity operated by the defendants, Mohammad Imran and Mohammed Yousif.

This case highlights the rewards for entrepreneurs who invest fully in developing strong brands, protecting them through litigation if necessary. Such investment enabled the business to trade strongly despite the pandemic, with a particular focus on takeaway food during lockdown.

The two Heavenly Desserts restaurants, which have always been operated by Nizam Mohamed in Birmingham and Preston, will as part of the settlement relaunch next month as Haute Dolci, a brand Nizam founded in 2018.

Nizam will now focus on the continued growth of Haute Dolci alongside Iceburg, a gourmet burger restaurant chain launched in 2017. The group has 14 operational restaurants across the UK with a further three openings planned later this year.

Michael Forrester, Partner and Head of Litigation at Brandsmiths, led the team. Michael comments:

“We are delighted to deliver this result. Conceiving, growing and protecting brands is the heart of what we do and this case gave us the chance to draw all that together to get the right result for Nizam’s hard work over many years.

“The settlement gives a completely clean break and provides Nizam the platform to drive the continued growth of Haute Dolci and his other business ventures.”