A recent High Court of Australia decision has highlighted the important distinction between trade mark infringement and misleading and deceptive conduct under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The High Court reinstated the primary judge’s decision against Global Retail Brands Australia Pty Ltd (GRBA), holding that GRBA’s use of the “House Bed & Bath” mark breached ACL, despite there being no findings of trade mark infringement.
This case serves as a lesson to brand owners and businesses that use of similar trade marks, even in situations where words are descriptive and may be considered different enough under trade mark law, can still give rise to misleading and deceptive conduct under ACL.
Background
