This matter concerned a notice of intention to revoke the acceptance of the trade mark.
The application is owned by Ferngrove Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty Ltd and covers a wide range of goods, including chemical ingredients, cosmetics, and food products.
The application was initially accepted for registration by the Australian Trade Marks Office without any formal objections being raised. After an internal review, a notice of intention to revoke acceptance was issued by the Australian Trade Marks Office.
Within the notice of intention to revoke acceptance, the Examiner indicated that objections on grounds pursuant to section 41 (distinctiveness) and section 44 (prior trade marks) should have been raised.
The applicant requested to be heard in relation to the proposed revocation of acceptance of its trade mark. At the hearing, the section 41 objection was considered and the Hearing Officer was of the view that ‘the [t]rade [m]ark is comprised entirely of integers which, individually, are without any distinctive value’ and that an objection under section 41 should have been raised.
The Hearing Officer noted that, in his view, the section 44 objection should not have been raised, but having established that an objection should have been raised under section 41 the acceptance should be revoked.
To view the Office decision, click here.
This article is an extract from Spruson & Ferguson’s Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Mark Update. You can view the entire summary here.