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*Indonesia’s pop singer and budding entrepreneur Mawi has failed to derail court case proceedings by drinks manufacturer Yassa against his mineral water company, Mawi World. The lawsuit, filed in October 2006, claims that Mawi World had infringed on the copyright of its products. *

The Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed with costs the application by Mawi World to block the lawsuit that is now expected to begin before the summer although no hearing dates have been fixed yet.

Yassa has demanded that Mawi World stops producing bottled mineral water using its licence number, factory address and product contents on its label. Subsequently, Yassa amended its legal action to claim that Mawi’s company had made use of its property instead of having infringed on its intellectual property.

In his affidavit to strike out the suit, Mawi said Yassa’s action against his company was vexatious, frivolous and an abuse of the court process. “I have been advised that if the plaintiff wants to take action, it should be against the supplier of our bottled mineral water, Johtaw Corporation,” he said last year.

The singer, whose real name is Asmawi Ani, is one of the best selling and influential Malaysian artists in recent years and winner of the country’s popular reality show Akademi Fantasia. He has also been testing his skills in acting and performing magic tricks.