There's an interesting trade mark case brewing in Australia,
one that has some useful trade mark lessons.
Online retail giant Amazon is opposing a trade mark application
filed in 2015 by an Australian clothing retailer, Live Clothing, to
register the trade mark Glamazon for retail services, including
those relating to clothing. On the face of it, this case looks like
an absolute "slam-dunk" for Amazon. This case is,
however, far from clear.
Live Clothing was established in Perth in 1994 and has, in fact,
been using the trade mark Glamazon ever since. It has grown
impressively, to the extent that it now has 12 clothing outlets in
Western Australia, an online offering and a staff complement of 100
employees. Live clothing already has registrations in Australia for
the trade marks Glamazon and Glamazon Label in class 25 for
clothing. These registrations date from 1999.
