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ARTICLE · 13 DECEMBER 2013

Aristocrat copyright and trade mark case ends as a busted flush

Clayton Utz
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Proving a case of trade mark infringement is difficult where evidence of the infringement is entirely circumstantial.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Timothy Webb
Timothy Webb
Alice Taylor
Alice Taylor
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Key Points:

The Aristocrat case is a good reminder of the difficulties in proving a case of trade mark infringement where the evidence of the infringement is entirely circumstantial.

The long-running dispute between the Aristocrat Technologies group of companies and Global Gaming Supplies, Impact Gaming and Tonita Enterprise has finally come to an end with the decision in the remitted proceedings Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd v Global Gaming Supplies Pty Ltd [2013] FCA 986.

Given that the case has been running for years, and traversed quite complex issues in copyright and trade mark law, necessitating trips to the Full Federal Court and an application to the High Court for special leave to appeal, the end result might seem somewhat of an anti-climax.

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