Dart Industries Inc v Decor Corporation Pty Ltd

Dart Industries Inc (Dart) sought an interlocutory injunction against Decor Corporation Pty Ltd (Decor) to restrain the latter from infringing Dart's registered design rights in a plastic container. The dispute concerned whether Decor's "Decor-Ware" containers infringed Dart's registered design for a "stackable container". The case came before the High Court of Australia on appeal from the Full Federal Court.

The High Court was required to determine whether the "essential features" of Dart's registered design were present in Decor's containers. This involved considering the scope of protection afforded by a registered design, particularly in relation to variations and modifications of the design. The court also had to assess whether the similarities between the two designs were sufficient to constitute infringement, having regard to the visual appearance of the designs as a whole.

The majority of the High Court, comprising Mason CJ, Deane, Dawson and Toohey JJ, held that the essential features of Dart's design were not present in Decor's containers. Their Honours reasoned that while both containers were stackable, the specific visual characteristics that constituted the "essential features" of Dart's registered design were not reproduced in Decor's product. McHugh J dissented, finding that the essential features were indeed present. The court applied the principles of design infringement, focusing on the visual comparison of the registered design and the alleged infringing article, and considering whether any differences were merely superficial or amounted to a departure from the essential features.

The appeal was dismissed, and the interlocutory injunction sought by Dart Industries Inc was refused.