McDonald's Corporation v Steve M. Bowditch

McDonald's Corporation opposed the registration of a trade mark application by Steve M. Bowditch for the mark "golden boomerangs" (and device) for services including tourist accommodation and fast food and restaurant services. The opposition was heard by the Registrar of Trade Marks.

The legal issues before the Registrar were whether the "golden boomerangs" trade mark was substantially identical with or deceptively similar to existing McDonald's trade marks, and whether its use would be likely to deceive or cause confusion due to the reputation of McDonald's trade marks. These issues were primarily framed under sections 44 and 60 of the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth).

The Registrar found that the "golden boomerangs" trade mark was neither substantially identical nor deceptively similar to McDonald's registered trade marks, including the "Golden Arches" logo. The Registrar reasoned that the visual and conceptual differences between the boomerangs device and the arches or "M" device were significant, and the word "golden" alone was insufficient to create deceptive similarity. This finding also meant that the threshold requirement for the section 60 ground, which requires substantial identity or deceptive similarity, was not met. Consequently, both grounds of opposition failed.