PPG Industries Australia Pty Ltd v DuluxGroup (Australia) Pty Ltd

The decision concerns an appeal by PPG Industries Australia Pty Ltd against a decision of the Registrar of Trade Marks regarding the registration of a trade mark. DuluxGroup (Australia) Pty Ltd was the opponent in the trade mark opposition proceedings before the Registrar. The dispute centred on whether the grounds of opposition raised by DuluxGroup were established to the extent that the Registrar should refuse to register PPG Industries' trade mark. The matter came before Iain Campbell Thompson.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine whether any of the grounds on which the trade mark application was opposed by DuluxGroup had been established. This required the court to assess the evidence presented by both parties in relation to the grounds of opposition.

The court found that the grounds of opposition had not been established. Consequently, the court decided to register the trade mark. The registration was to proceed one month from the date of the decision, unless an appeal was filed. If an appeal was filed, registration would be stayed until the appeal was determined, with the disposition of the application to follow the court's order. As PPG Industries was successful, it was awarded costs against DuluxGroup on the official scale.