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Total entries in this category: Published On: May 18, 2008 10:35 PM |
BP's green trade mark applicationThe HIgh Court (Gummow and Hayne JJ,
Kirby J dissenting) has refused BP special leave to appeal from the Full Federal
Court's rejection of its trade mark application for green as the predominant
colour of service stations.
Insofar as the application raised
disputes about factual matters, Gummow and Hayne JJ considered it was not
appropriate to grant leave. Insofar as it raised questions of law and
construction, their Honours considered it was not a suitable vehicle to
ventilate the issues.
Kirby J would have granted leave on all points except questions of the Federal Court's powers. All of their Honours raised questions about why green in relation to petroleum products might not have a connotation that brought s 43 into play. Kirby J was clearly troubled by rejecting a trade mark application where applications in similar terms had been granted overseas. The transcript will eventually appear here. Full Federal Court No 1 (on powers question) not linked on austlii; No 2 (substantive question) here; No 3 (amendment question) here. Posted: Friday - 25 May, 2007 at 12:26 PM | |