Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP

This matter concerned an application by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the registration of the trade mark "CONNECTEDTHINKING" in relation to business and education services. The Hearing Officer, Rachel Dunn, was required to determine whether the trade mark was capable of distinguishing the applicant's services from those of other traders, as required by the *Trade Marks Act 1995* (Cth).

The primary legal issue was whether the trade mark "CONNECTEDTHINKING" was inherently adapted to distinguish the applicant's services, or whether it had acquired distinctiveness through use. The Hearing Officer considered evidence that the term was already in use by various organisations in Australia and overseas in a descriptive manner to denote a method of cooperative collective thought in business and education. While acknowledging that the term could potentially be registrable under section 41(5) of the Act, considering its adaptability, use, and international registrations, the Hearing Officer also noted that section 41(6) was unlikely to apply as the services were not directly described by the method of synergistic collective thought.

The Hearing Officer found that while the applicant had presented evidence of use, including instances where "Connected Thinking" was used in conjunction with their house mark, there was minimal use of the term in a trade mark sense to indicate origin. The evidence did not sufficiently demonstrate that the term did or would distinguish the applicant's services from those of other traders. Crucially, there was a lack of information traditionally provided to establish distinctiveness, such as marketing expenditure or revenue directly attributable to the trade mark. Despite submissions regarding the presumption of registrability, the Hearing Officer held serious reservations and was not satisfied that the trade mark possessed or would acquire the capacity to distinguish.

Consequently, the Hearing Officer rejected the application for registration of the trade mark "CONNECTEDTHINKING" under sections 33(3) and 41(2) of the *Trade Marks Act 1995*.