Best Australian and New Zealand trade mark cases 2014

Welcome to our annual round up of key trade mark cases. Here you can find a summary of all major trade mark decisions in Australia in 2014 and a good scattering of New Zealand decisions too.

2014 was a big year for trade marks in Australia, including only the third time a trade mark case has made it all the way to the High Court of Australia under the Trade Marks Act 1995. A key theme in many of the cases is the issue of inherent distinctiveness and overcoming descriptiveness objections through use of the mark. Not easy, as it turns out.

For foreign language trade marks, the Australian High Court has lowered the registrability bar. Conversely, colour and shape marks continue to be difficult to obtain and enforce, which is perhaps...