The Shell Co of Australia Ltd v Rohm & Haas

The Shell Company of Australia Ltd sought to expunge from the register a trade mark registered by Rohm & Haas. The dispute concerned the registration of similar trade marks for the same class of goods, where Rohm & Haas's mark was lodged subsequent to, but accepted and registered prior to, Shell's earlier lodged application. Shell argued that its earlier application should have taken precedence.

The court was required to determine whether Shell was a "person aggrieved" entitled to seek rectification of the register. It also had to consider the proper interpretation of the Trade Marks Act 1955 (Cth) concerning the order in which applications should be dealt with, specifically whether the relevant date for determining priority was the date of application or the date of registration. The court also considered the Registrar's duty in processing applications and the implications of a mark being "already on the register".

The court reasoned that the Registrar has a duty to deal with trade mark applications in the order in which they are lodged. It held that the relevant date for determining priority was the date of application, not the date of registration. Therefore, Shell's earlier lodged application should have been considered before Rohm & Haas's subsequent application. The court found that Shell was a "person aggrieved" because the registration of Rohm & Haas's mark prejudiced its own rights and interests in relation to its pending application.

The court ordered the rectification of the register by expunging the trade mark registered by Rohm & Haas.