Polyaire Pty Ltd v K-Aire Pty Ltd

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal concerning allegations of infringement of a registered design. The parties involved were Polyaire Pty Ltd, the appellant, and K-Aire Pty Ltd, the respondent. The dispute centred on whether K-Aire had fraudulently imitated a registered design owned by Polyaire.

The central legal issues before the High Court were whether the alleged infringing design was sufficiently different from the registered design to avoid being considered an obvious imitation, and what constitutes "fraudulent imitation" in the context of registered designs. Specifically, the Court considered whether fraudulent imitation requires that any differences between the designs be attributable to a dishonest disguise of the registered design, and whether the alleged infringer must have applied the design with knowledge of the registration and lack of consent, or with reason to suspect these matters.

The High Court reasoned that the Full Court of the Federal Court had erred in its insistence on the necessity for "disguised copying" as a prerequisite for finding fraudulent imitation. The Court concluded that this requirement was misplaced in law. The High Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the Full Court and ordering that the appeal to that Court be dismissed with costs.