Haddonstone Ltd v Haddonstone Pty Ltd

Haddonstone Ltd (the applicant) sought to remove Haddonstone Pty Ltd (the respondent) from the Australian Register of Trademarks. The applicant, a UK-based manufacturer of cast stone architectural features, alleged that the respondent, an Australian company also involved in the manufacture and sale of cast stone products, had registered its trademark deceptively or confusingly similar to the applicant's registered trademark. The application was heard in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the respondent's trademark was, within the meaning of the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth), deceptively or confusingly similar to the applicant's registered trademark. This required an assessment of the degree of visual, aural, and conceptual resemblance between the two marks, as well as consideration of the goods or services for which the marks were registered and the likely perception of the relevant consumer.

The court applied the established principles for assessing deceptive or confusing similarity, which involve a consideration of the marks as a whole, rather than dissecting them into their component parts. The court found that while there were some similarities, the overall impression created by the two marks, particularly when viewed in the context of the goods offered by both parties, was not such as to lead to a likelihood of deception or confusion among the purchasing public. The court noted that the respondent's mark included additional descriptive elements that differentiated it from the applicant's mark.

Consequently, the court dismissed the application for removal of the respondent's trademark from the register.