L'Oreal v Southern Cross Packaged Goods Pty Limited

In the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Ian Forno considered a dispute between L'Oreal, a cosmetics company, and Southern Cross Packaged Goods Pty Limited, a manufacturer and distributor of cosmetic products. L'Oreal alleged that Southern Cross had infringed its registered trade mark "L'ORÉAL" by using the mark "LOreal" on its products and in its advertising. L'Oreal sought an injunction to restrain Southern Cross from continuing this alleged infringement, as well as damages.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether Southern Cross's use of the mark "LOreal" constituted an infringement of L'Oreal's registered trade mark "L'ORÉAL" under the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth). This required the Court to determine if there was a likelihood of confusion or deception among consumers as to the origin or sponsorship of Southern Cross's goods, given the similarity between the two marks.

Justice Forno reasoned that the marks were visually and phonetically very similar, and that the goods in question (cosmetic products) were of the same description. He applied the well-established test for trade mark infringement, which focuses on whether the ordinary consumer of the goods would be deceived or confused into believing that the goods offered by the defendant were the goods of the plaintiff, or were in some way associated with the plaintiff. The Court found that the use of "LOreal" by Southern Cross was likely to cause such confusion, thereby infringing L'Oreal's registered trade mark.

Consequently, the Court granted L'Oreal's application for an injunction to prevent Southern Cross from using the infringing mark and ordered that Southern Cross pay L'Oreal's costs.