Can a company use a trade mark as parody or satire?

Intellectual property infringement is becoming an increasing risk to organisations. When assessing that risk, organisations should consider the protections under the Copyright Act and Trade Mark Act and the limitations of those protections.

A recent Federal Court of Australia Case exposed such limitations. This case found that charity organisation, Greenpeace's use of energy company, AGL's registered trade mark in an environmental campaign did not constitute copyright infringement and/or trade mark infringement.

Greenpeace's campaign

The purpose of Greenpeace's environmental campaign against AGL arose from Greenpeace's concern that AGL had successfully persuaded consumers in Australia that it is an environmentally responsible energy provider, a claim which Greenpeace challenged.