Boddingtons Limited

The applicant, Boddingtons Limited, sought to register two trade marks. The hearing officer, Alison Windsor, rejected these applications.

The central legal issue was whether the trade marks met the requirements of section 41 of the relevant Act, which likely pertains to the registrability of trade marks, particularly concerning their descriptive nature and the evidence of use.

The hearing officer found that the trade marks were extremely descriptive. While the applicant presented evidence of overseas use and registration in the UK and New Zealand, and a larger volume of overseas sales compared to Australia, this was deemed insufficient to satisfy the Australian legislative requirements. The limited volume of sales within Australia further weakened the applicant's case.

Consequently, the hearing officer rejected trade mark application numbers 1308235 and 1308236.