Jason Bosco Elvis Soares v Australian Postal Corporation

This matter concerned an application by Jason Bosco Elvis Soares (the Applicant) to register the trade mark "MyPost" for courier and delivery services. The Australian Postal Corporation (the Opponent) opposed this application. The decision was made by Debrett Lyons, a Hearing Officer for Trade Marks Hearings.

The primary legal issues before the Hearing Officer were whether the Applicant's trade mark application should be refused registration based on grounds of opposition raised by the Australian Postal Corporation. Specifically, the opposition was based on sections 41, 58, 59, and 62A of the relevant Act.

The Hearing Officer found that the opposition was unsuccessful under section 41, which relates to the distinctiveness of a trade mark. However, the opposition succeeded under sections 58, 59, and 62A. Section 58 concerns the use of a trade mark by the applicant or their predecessors in title, section 59 deals with deceptive or confusing marks, and section 62A addresses marks that are applied for in bad faith. While the Hearing Officer considered that the scope of the specification of services might have been restricted due to findings under sections 58 and 59, the finding under section 62A was deemed to affect the entire application. Consequently, the Hearing Officer refused to register the trade mark. The Opponent, having been successful, was awarded costs.