Mark Robinson v Venus Citrus Pty Ltd as trustee for the Venus Citrus Trust

The parties to this proceeding were Mark Robinson (the opponent) and Venus Citrus Pty Ltd as trustee for the Venus Citrus Trust (the applicant). The dispute concerned an opposition filed by Mr Robinson under section 96 of the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth) to applications made by Venus Citrus for the partial removal of certain trade marks. The applications for removal were brought under section 92(4)(b) of the Act. The matter was heard by Tracey Berger J in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the trade marks in question had been genuinely used in Australia in relation to some or all of the goods for which they were registered. If use was established for only some of the goods, the Court was then required to consider whether to exercise its discretion to allow the trade marks to remain registered for the remaining goods, or to order their partial removal.

Her Honour found that use of the trade marks had been established in relation to certain goods. However, for the remaining goods, the Court determined that there had been no genuine use. Consequently, the Court exercised its discretion not to permit the trade marks to remain registered for those goods for which no use had been proven. The Court ordered that the trade marks be partially removed.