Western Australia Sports Centre Trust Trading as VenuesWest v M.G. Investment Holdings Pty Ltd

This matter concerned an opposition filed by Western Australia Sports Centre Trust Trading as VenuesWest (the Opponent) against a trade mark application by M.G. Investment Holdings Pty Ltd (the Applicant). The dispute arose from the Applicant's attempt to register a trade mark, which the Opponent claimed it had been using since August 2012 for its Perth Arena venue. The decision was made by Nicholas Smith, a delegate of the Registrar of Trade Marks, based on the written record.

The primary legal issue before the delegate was whether the Applicant was the owner of the trade mark, as per section 58 of the relevant Act. This ground of opposition required the Opponent to demonstrate, on the balance of probabilities, that the Applicant was not the rightful owner of the trade mark as of the application filing date of 2 November 2015. The delegate also had to consider the extent to which this ground of opposition had been established in relation to the specific goods and services for which the trade mark was sought.

The delegate reasoned that the Opponent had provided evidence of its prior use of an identical logo for services including entertainment, recreational, sporting, and cultural activities, and the provision of facilities for events. The Applicant, in contrast, had not demonstrated prior use of the trade mark in relation to the same or similar services. Crucially, the Applicant had been deregistered on 28 December 2016, rendering a subsequent request to amend the services invalid.

Consequently, the delegate found that the ground of opposition under section 58 of the Act had been established in respect of "Arranging of festivals; Arranging parties." Following the principle that if an application fails in one respect, it fails as a whole, and given the Applicant's deregistration and failure to pursue an assignment, the delegate refused to register the trade mark.