LION
In the recent Trade Marks Office decision of Long Way
Home Holdings Pty Ltd v Saroo Brierly Enterprises Pty
Ltd [2020] ATMO 109, the issue of whether a film title
functions as a trade mark has again been discussed.
The decision concerned a film called Lion, which is based on the
story of young Indian man, Saroo Brierly, who grew up in Australia.
At the age of five, he lost contact with his family in India when
he was at a train station waiting for his brother, who never
returned. After surviving three weeks in Calcutta by himself, he
was placed in an orphanage and subsequently adopted by an
Australian family. He then spent the next 25 years living in
Tasmania, Australia. He then went searching for his natural parents
in India, eventually being re-united with them and discovering that
his original name was Sheru, meaning Lion.
