Kingfisher logo, trademarks up for grabs

Lenders to the defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) will auction the company's trademarks, including the brand value of the 'Kingfisher' bird logo, in an effort to recover dues worth around Rs9,000 crore from its promoter Vijay Mallya.

The base price for the trademarks has been fixed at Rs366.70 crore and they will be auctioned online on 30 April, SBICap Trustee Company said in a public notice on Tuesday. Bids have to be submitted before 5pm on 28 April.

A group of Indian banks, seeking to recover more than $1 billion in loans from Kingfisher Airlines, has taken possession of nine trademarks related to the defunct carrier even as its its chief, erstwhile liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has skipped off to Britain.  (See: With Mallya in UK, banks seize Kingfisher trademarks).

The nine trademarks put on the block include the famous flying bird logo which was adopted from the UB Group's once top-selling beer brand.

The others trademarks that will be put up for auction include the tag lines 'Fly the Good Times', 'Funliner', the 'Fly Kingfisher' label in addition to the brand name and the logo which have been separately copyrighted by Kingfisher.

Of the nine trademarks to be auctioned, four are registered and valid up to 10 January 2017.

KFA had pledged the trademarks as collateral with the banks while taking loans.

The banks are fighting more than 20 cases against the airline to recover loans worth Rs7,000 crore, which with interest and non-payment dues add up to about Rs9,000 crore.

The banks, headed by State Bank of India, are already in the process of selling other assets and attempting all legal means to recover the loans.

Earlier this month, they attempted to sell the 17,000 sq ft Kingfisher House, located near the Mumbai airport, but failed to receive any bids as the base price of Rs150 crore was perceived to be too high (No takers for Kingfisher House as price 'too high').

The KFA brand was valued at Rs4,100 crore by Grant Thornton at its peak when it was close to being the largest private airline in the country with international flights to the UK. But with the airline being grounded for over three years the brand has suffered.