O'Brien Glass Industries Limited v Graeme Leslie Cleary

This matter concerned a trade mark application by Graeme Leslie Cleary, opposed by O'Brien Glass Industries Limited. The dispute arose from Cleary's application to register the trade mark ANY CAR. ANY GLASS. ANYWHERE. The hearing was conducted before Claudia Murray, acting as a delegate of the Registrar, in Canberra.

The court was required to determine whether Cleary's trade mark application should be refused registration. Specifically, the opponent argued that the proposed mark should be refused under various grounds of opposition, including that its use would be contrary to law, and that it was substantially identical or deceptively similar to existing trade marks. The opponent also contended that the applicant's use of the mark would be likely to deceive or cause confusion.

The delegate found that the opponent had succeeded on three of the four grounds argued at the hearing. In particular, the delegate determined that the use of the applicant's trade mark would be contrary to law, referencing a prior decision under subsection 62(b) which rendered the use of the mark unlawful under section 42. Consequently, the delegate refused to register trade mark application number 865723. The opponent was awarded costs according to the official scale.