A major Australian supplier of plumbing and bathware found that a company in Western Australia had registered a business name identical to its own registered trade mark, and was trading under it, with a near-identical logo on the front of its retail premises. Belinda Sigismundi and her team resolved it without a day in court.
The challenge
A registered trade mark is only as strong as its owner's willingness to defend it, and every day an infringer trades unchallenged, weakens the owner's position. Trade mark infringement proceedings are the obvious response, but they are slow and expensive, with an outcome months or even years away. The client needed its name back, its position protected, and the cost kept in proportion.
How Belinda helped
- Investigated the business name and the logo and established that both conflicted with the client's registered Australian trade mark.
- Issued a strong letter of demand requiring the WA company to stop using the conflicting mark, rebrand, and assign the business name to the client.
- Set out the client's position so clearly that the other side accepted every request rather than contest them.
The outcome
The WA company agreed to all of the client's requests, including transferring the business name to the client. The client has certainty in its name and avoided lengthy and costly trade mark infringement proceedings through the courts.