Brand owners may have grounds to oppose the registration
of a parody trade mark in Australia on the basis that the use of
the parody mark would lead to deception or confusion in the
marketplace. There is, however, no general prohibition against
parodies per se. If consumers would not be confused, but
instead conclude that a name has been cleverly used as a clear
parody, the brand owner is unlikely to have grounds for
successfully opposing the registration of the mark.
For example, the owners of the iconic "Penfolds
Grange" brand were unsuccessful in opposing a trade mark
application for "Tenfolds Grunge" (Southcorp Limited
v Morris McKeeman [2006] ATMO 48). The Hearing Officer in this
case concluded that the "Tenfolds Grunge" mark would be
seen as an obvious parody and, as such, deception or
confusion was unlikely. The Hearing Officer considered that there
was no doubt that "Tenfolds Grunge" made a play on, or
reference to, the "Penfolds Grange" mark; however,
