By XAVIER SMERDON
A WYNDHAM councillor was taken to court this week by a school in his own ward in an attempt to stop him from opening a school with a similar name.
Westbourne Grammar School Ltd argued in the County Court on Monday 19 August that Intaj Khan should not be able to name his school, located on the former Mowbray College campus in Caroline Springs, West Melbourne Grammar School.
As revealed by Star, Mr Khan – who also lives in the same suburb as the school which took him to court, Truganina – bought the campus in October last year for $6.7 million after crippling debts forced the previous owners to close it down, and he was planning on opening a primary school in time for the 2014 school year.
Mr Kahn said West Melbourne Grammar School would be non-denominational, something he claimed was rare and needed in the western suburbs.
Court documents filed by Westbourne Grammar School claimed that the name of the new school was “likely to mislead or deceive consumers” into believing that the two school were affiliated.
As soon as court proceedings started, lawyers acting for Mr Khan’s board, West Melbourne Education Limited, said that it was willing to withdraw the proposed name and refrain from using it in the future.
A third requirement that they stop claiming that there were no other multicultural schools not dominated by one religion in the area was struck out by presiding Judge Marie Kennedy.
After agreeing not to use the name, West Melbourne Education Limited was ordered to pay legal fees for Westbourne Grammar, totalling $2000.
Mr Kahn told Star after the court case that he was unhappy with the outcome.
“It’s disappointing that people can hold the right to a name even if they don’t have it trademarked,” Mr Khan said.
“We’ve spent $7 million getting this school up and running and I don’t want to indulge in a long court case, I wanted to concentrate on getting it opened.
“I still believe there is no similarity between the two names but to spend $100,000 on a court case is useless.”
Mr Khan said the school was now likely to be called Melbourne Lakeside Grammar School and it would open by next year.
