M/s. Yousufain Pista House v Deccan House Pty Ltd

This matter concerned an opposition to the registration of a trade mark by M/s. Yousufain Pista House (the Opponent) against Deccan House Pty Ltd (the Applicant). The Opponent sought to oppose the Applicant's trade mark application under section 52 of the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth), specifically pursuing a ground under section 62A of the Act, which relates to applications made in bad faith. The hearing officer was Sheona Robertson.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the Applicant's application to register the trade mark was made in bad faith, as contemplated by section 62A of the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth). This required an examination of the Applicant's conduct and knowledge at the time of filing the application, assessed against objective standards of acceptable commercial behaviour.

The court reasoned that the concept of "bad faith" under section 62A is a broad one, not limited to dishonesty or fraud, and involves both subjective and objective elements. The subjective element concerns the applicant's knowledge at the time of application, while the objective element requires assessing whether, in light of that knowledge, the applicant's behaviour fell short of acceptable commercial standards. The court considered the evidence presented by both parties, including the Opponent's international trade mark registrations and plans for expansion into Australia, and the Applicant's established business operations in Sydney under the name PISTA HOUSE since 2015, including its use of the term 'PISTA' to signify a common Indian cuisine ingredient and 'HOUSE' to denote restaurant services. The Applicant also declared no awareness of other traders using a similar mark or causing confusion at the time of selecting the trade mark. Ultimately, the hearing officer found that the ground of opposition under section 62A was not established.