In a continuing fight over damages stemming from misleading burger ads, McDonald’s has opposed production of sales information to Hungry Jack’s directors and its top executive, saying the information was confidential and the companies “fierce competitors”.
A judge has ruled gaming giant Aristocrat Technologies cannot patent its Lightning Link electronic poker machine, after six High Court Justices split on whether the popular game was eligible for patent protection.
Hungry Jack’s is seeking five years of Big Mac sales data as it readies for a fight over damages stemming from its claim that its Big Jack burger has 25 per cent more beef than the McDonald’s burger.
The maker of Finish dishwashing products, RB Hygiene, has won a partial appeal in a trade mark stoush with rival Henkel, with the Full Court reviving two of its trade marks but rejecting its challenge to a logo for competing Somat-branded products.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has lost its opposition to the registration of three trade marks by pay on demand company BeforePay, with a delegate finding that consumers of banking and financial services were unlikely to be confused by the marks and acted with high “care and attention”.
A judge has rejected McDonald’s claim that Hungry Jack’s Big Jack burger infringed its Big Mac trade mark, but found that Hungry Jack’s misled consumers by boasting that its burger had 25 per cent more beef.
The maker of Mother energy drinks has won an appeal of an IP Australia decision, succeeding in its bid to prevent a Victoria-based company from registering Kangaroo Mother as a trade mark for beverages.
The reputation of a registered trade mark and its owner is not relevant in assessing the deceptive similarity of a challenged mark, the High Court has found, clarifying the test for infringement under a section of the Trade Marks Act.
A judge has thrown out a lawsuit by the maker of Raw C coconut water alleging a rival’s coconut water featuring a similar aqua blue packaging with images of palm fronds would confuse consumers.
A contradictor has argued that the High Court must consider the reputation of Botox maker Allergan’s trade marks in a cosmetic company’s challenge to a judgment finding it infringed the marks by marketing its topical creams as Botox alternatives.