FreemantleMedia and 19 TV Limited v Solowave Pty Limited

FreemantleMedia and 19 TV Limited (the opponents) opposed an application by Solowave Pty Limited (the applicant) to register a trade mark. The dispute concerned the registrability of the applicant's trade mark. The decision was made by Iain Thompson.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the trade mark application should be refused or registered, having regard to the grounds on which the opposition was based. This required the court to consider the provisions of section 55 of the relevant Act, which outlines the Registrar's obligations when deciding on a trade mark application following an opposition.

The court determined that the opposition was successful. Applying section 55 of the Act, the court decided to refuse the registration of the trade mark application. The court reasoned that the grounds on which the application was opposed had been established to a sufficient extent to warrant refusal.

As a consequence of their success in the opposition, the opponents were awarded their costs against the applicant, to be assessed on the official scale set out in the regulations.