The Full Federal Court held that the HARBOUR LIGHTS trademark for the name of a residential apartment leasing complex was infringed.

What did the Court determine?

The Court held that Liv Pty Ltd infringed Accor’s ‘Harbour Lights’ trademark. In particular the full court found Liv Pty Ltd.’s infringement occurred in the following ways:

  1. The domain names “cairnsharbourlights.com.au”; “harbourlightscairns.com.au” and “harbourlightscairns.com”.
  2. By using “Harbour Lights Cairns” on other websites.
  3. In advertisements, email addresses and listings on third-party accommodation booking sites.
  4. Found use of ‘Harbour Lights’ as a metatag to be infringing.

Background

The HARBOUR LIGHTS and CAIRNS HARBOUR LIGHTS trademark registrations are owned by Accor Australia and New Zealand Hospitality Pty Limited (Accor). The trademarks were lodged in January 2009 and 21 April 2009 respectively and cover leasing of property and accommodation, hotel and booking services, etc.

A third party “Elise Bradnam” (Elise) bought and used the similar domain names ‘Cairnsharbourlights.com.au’, ‘harbourlightscairns.com.au’ and ‘harbourlightscairns.com‘.

Elise traded as Harbour Lights Property Management and Sales. Elise leased apartments out.

Elise later sold the business in September 2009 to Liv Pty Ltd. Liv Pty Ltd happened to provide short-term letting services in competition with Accor.

Take home lessons.

  1. Before buying or investing in a business, engage an experienced Trademark Attorney to audit the business brand(s). You could be wasting significant funds to buy an asset which then turns into a greater problem when you wind up with legal costs and damages to pay in the Federal Court.
  2. For google SEO agents, look out when using a trademark in a metatag if owned by someone else. Metatags are keywords (often unseen when you view a website) but are visible when read by google and other search engines to rank a website.

How to get started?

To register your trademark or identify if there are infringement issues in a proposed brand, or if you have any concerns with your brands, fill out this form. Our Trademark Attorneys will review your situation and advise accordingly.

This article does not constitute advice and is generic in nature. You should seek advice from a Patent and Trademark Attorney before acting. Your circumstances may be different.

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