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Aug 17, 2016
Fiona Brittain, Davies Collison Cave, Australia
Adam Sears, Davies Collison Cave, Australia
First published on www.lexology.com

Surprising trade mark registration granted for purple a...


Fiona Brittain, Davies Collison Cave, Australia, Adam Sears, Davies Collison Cave, Australia, First published on www.lexology.comDiscount Drugstores Pty Ltd succeeded in an appeal to the Federal Court of Australia in relation to the registrability of the colours Purple and Orange in relation to pharmacy services. The case is unusual both in the way in which the case was decided, and the broad scope of protection afforded to the company.
In the course of the appeal proceedings, the Registrar of Trade Marks decided that there were no longer grounds for rejecting the Application following consideration of additional evidence (not discussed in the case) which was filed on behalf of Discount Drug Stores. This decision was reached in the context of the parties attending mediation following the filing of additional evidence. It is unusual for cases involving IP Australia and relating to registrability of a trade mark to proceed on the basis of a mediated outcome, without any substantive discussion of the merits of the matter by the Court. The consequence is that practitioners are left in the dark as to the nature and extent of the evidence which was found  read more