Miller v Britt Allcroft (Thomas) LLC [2000] FCA 1724
The name of
a toy shop called “The Thomas Shop” which sold only “Thomas the Tank Engine”
merchandise infringed the rights of the corporate owners of the Thomas name.
The proprietor was ordered to change the name of the shop. However, like any
retailer, the proprietor was free to use logos and trademarks in the shop
including the “Thomas” logos as this would not breach s120(2)(b).
Virgin Enterprises Ltd v Klapsas [2001] FCA 1502
Richard
Branson’s Virgin Enterprises got an injunction for trade mark infringement by
the unrelated “Virgin Car Rentals”.
Anheuser-Busch Inc v Budejovick Budvar, Narodni Podnik [2002] FCA 390
Company A
(the registered proprietor of the trade marks “Budweiser” and “Bud”) stopped
Company B (a Czech brewery) distributing in Australia its imported beer “Made
and bottled in Budweis, Czechoslovakia” under the name “Budweiser Budvar”
This was
trademark usage which was not an example of using one’s own name in good faith
and the usage was not protected by s122. The word “Budweiser” had a secondary
meaning or a reputation in Australia as the mark of the proprietor.
Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v Toea Pty Ltd [2006] FCA 1443
Louis
Vuitton lost its trade mark infringement case against the owner and operator of
the Carrara markets on the Gold Coast, who was actively discouraging stall
holders from selling Vuitton counterfeit handbags, sscarves and wallets.
In
contrast, in China in 2006, the Beijing People’s High Court held that the owner
of the Silk Road Market in Beijing infringed Louis Vuitton’s trade marks by
knowingly renting space to stallholders who were selling counterfeit goods.
