Leafmesh Pty Ltd v MISS Ma Christina Ranola

This matter came before Hearing Officer Robert Wilson concerning an application by Leafmesh Pty Ltd (the Applicant) to extend the period for filing evidence in answer in opposition proceedings against an application by Miss Ma Christina Ranola. The dispute centred on whether exceptional circumstances justified the late filing of certain documents.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Applicant had demonstrated exceptional circumstances, as required by regulation 5.15 of the *Trade Marks Regulations 1995* (Cth), to justify an extension of time for filing specific parts of its evidence in answer, namely Ranola 2 and Appendices 11 to 15, and the O’Connor declaration. The court was required to determine if the circumstances presented by the Applicant were beyond its control and prevented timely compliance with the filing deadline.

The Hearing Officer was satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the Optus data breach on 22 September 2022 constituted exceptional circumstances beyond the Applicant's control. This breach led to unreliable internet connectivity, causing corruption and unarchiving issues with documents stored in cloud-based storage, specifically Appendices 11 to 15. Consequently, the extension request for Ranola 2 and Appendices 11 to 15 was granted under reg 5.15(2)(b). However, no submissions were made linking the Optus data breach to the late filing of the O’Connor declaration, which was made on 5 November 2022 and intended to summarise Appendices 11 to 15. As such, the extension request for the O’Connor declaration was refused.

The final orders were that the extension of time was granted for Leafmesh Pty Ltd to file Ranola 2 and Appendices 11 to 15 as part of its evidence in answer. The extension request for the O’Connor declaration was refused, meaning it would not form part of the evidence in the opposition. The evidence in answer would therefore consist of Ranola 1 and Annexures 1 to 10, along with Ranola 2 and Annexures 11 to 15.