Caterpillar Loader Hire (Holdings) Pty Ltd & Ors v Caterpillar Tractor Co [1983] FCA 143
Federal Court of Australia
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CATCHWORDS
Trade mark - service maérk - action fer infringement =
"Caterpillar" registered for both goods and services - whether
use of mark for services likely to deceive or cause confusion -
whether "Caterpillar" used in good faith to describe character or
quality of services.
Trade Marks Act 1955, ss.58(1), 62(1), 64(1)(b).
CATERPILLAR LOADER HIRE (HOLDINGS ) PTY. LTD. (tradin as
Willougby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service), MILJAN ANTON
WILLOUGHBY and BARBARA JEAN WILLOUGHBY v. CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO.
No. G26 of 1982
Franki, Lockhart and Neaves JJ.
19 July 1983
Adelaide
IN THE FEDEPAL COURT
to
co
JUDGES MAKING ORDER :
DATE OF ORDER:
WHERE MADE:
THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
ON APPEAL TROM TYE SUPREME
COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
CATERPILLAR LOADER HIRE
(HOLDINGS) PTY. LID. (trading
as Willoughbv's Caterpillar
. Loader Hire Service), MILJAN
ANTON WILLOUGHBY and BARBARA
JEAN WILLOUGHBY
Appellants
- and -
CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO.
Respondent
Franki, Lockhart and Neaves JJ.
19 July 1983
Adelaide
1. Each of the defendants being the defendant Caterpillar Loader
Hire(Holdings) Pty. Ltd.
by itself, its directors. servants
and agents and Miljan Anton Willoughby and Barbara Jean
Willoughby be restrained from infringing the trade mark
"Caterpillar" registered in the plaintirtzl s name wunaer tne
tu
as No 277469 in relation ainter alza to rental ana leasing
services in respect cio macninery ana #culpment seing
services included in Class 36) and che trade mark
"Cateroillar" vegistered in the plaintiff's name under the
Trade Marxs Act 1955 in Part A of the Register of Trade Marks
as No. 327470 in relation inter alia to rental and leasing
¢
services in respect of machinery and equipment including the
hire of bulidozers and other earth moving machines (being
services included in Class 37).
Order 1 is stayed for fourteen (14) days and the matter is
remitted to the Supreme Court of South Australia for the
hearing of any application which the appellants may wish to
make for a further stay of that order for a reasonable
period.
Orders 1 , 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 of the orders made by the
trial Judge are vacated.
Otherwise the appeal is dismissed.
The appellants pay the respondent's costs of the appeal.
v
IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA )
SOUTE AUSTRALIA DISTRICT REGISTRY ) No. G26 of 1982
GENERAL DIVisS:oOn }
ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME
COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
CATERPILLAR LOADER HIRE
(HOLDINGS) PTY. LTD. (trading
as Willoughby's Caterpillar
Loader Hire Service), MILJAN
ANTON WILLOUGHBY and BARBARA
JEAN WILLOUGHBY
Appellants
- and -
CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO.
Respondent
CORAM: Franki, Lockhart and Neaves JJ.
19 July 1983
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
FRANKI J.
I have had the benefit of reading the separate draft
judgments prepared by Lockhart and Neaves JJ. in which the facts
of the case are set out. I will not set out the facts again.
Lockhart J. and Neaves J. have dealt with the background to the
amendments to the Trade Marks Act 1955 ("the Act") by No. 130 cf
1978 when the Act was extended to cover services. I approach
this case by bearing in mind that the Act only gives protection,
so far as inivingement 18S concerned, where the marx alleged to
infringe 1s used in relation to gocds or services "in respect of
which the trade mark is registered". (Ss.58(1) and 62(1)).
Before the learned trial Judge the respondent sought
relief in respect of its registrations numbered A327470 and
é
A327469, Both were registrations of service marks in Part A of
the Register. Number A327470 was in Class 37 (Construction and
Repair Services) and it was in respect of:
"Rental and leasing services in this class in
respect of machinery and equipment including
the hire of bulldozers and other earthmoving
machines, construction and repair services,
including maintenance and repair of earth
moving and other machinery, maintenance work,
care and repair of gocds, engineering
construction being services included in Class
No. 37 ..7".
Number A327469 was in Class 36 (Insurance & Financial Services)
and it was in respect of:
"Rental and leasing services in this class in
respect of machinery and equipment, financing,
financial services, fanancial securities,
financial transactions, insurance, insurance
agents, insurance brokers, insurers,
investment, investment trusts, hire purchase,
financing of hire purchase, agents and brokers
for agricultural credit, agents and brokers
for credit from farming development, financing
of credits for wholesale dealers, arranging
for time payment for gocds, capital
investment, arranging credit, credit recovery
agents, advice and enquiries red
depositing of securities and
shares, farming surveys, financ1
monetary transactions and associ
ane Financieli services, pe
included in Class No. 36 ...".
On
HM
I consider that it 1s only relevant to consider the
position with regard to these registrations and not to complicate
the matter by looking at the position in relation to the
respondent's registration of a trade mark for "Caterpillar" for
goods in respect of machinery which had existed for many years.
That mark, No. A10,993, was in respect of "Machinery;
Agricultural and horticultural machinery, and parts of such
Machinery included in Class No. 7".
Section 23 of the Act, dealing with the removal of a
trade mark on the ground of non-use, does provide that use in
relation to "goods that are closely related to those services"
may be relevant where the application is to expunge a mark
registered in respect'of services. Section 33 provides that a
mark which is substantially identical with, or deceptively
similar to, a trade mark shall not be registered in respect of
services if it is already registered in respect of "goods that
are closely related to those services". Section 36({1A) provides
that the Registrar may require the association of trade marks
where one is registered in respect of any services, and it is
substantially identical with another trade mark registered in
respect of "goods that are closely related to those services".
Section 37 provides that associated marks can only be assigned or
transmitted as a whole and s.38 deals with use of associated
trade marks. In my opinion, ss.23, 33, 36 and 37 have the
essential purpose of protecting the public. Although those
sections may be favourable to the registered proprietor they do
not extend his rights in relation to infringement of his trade
mark.
Lockhart J. and Neaves J. have dealt with the different
views taken by the members of the Federal Court in Angoves Pty.
Ltd. v. Johnson (1982) 43 A.L.R. 349 and, if it were necessary, I
would accept the view that the majority of the Court expressed a
preference for the concept that s.58(1) only covered the use of
the identical mark. For some reason, not clear to me, in
contradistinction to s.58(1), s.62(1) uses the word "mark" and
not "trade mark". It refers to a mark being deceptively similar
to the registered trade mark in respect of, in this case
services, for which the mark is registered. The words
"deceptively similar" are to be interpreted in accordance with
s.6(3) which provides:
"For the purposes of this Act, a trade mark
shall be deemed to be deceptively similar to
another trade mark if it so nearly resembles
that other trade mark as to be likely to
deceive or cause confusion".
I mention that the definition of "trade mark" in s.6 1s different
to that of "mark" in that section.
The first question is whether the use of the name
"Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" for the type of business
carrieG on by the first appellant is a use which falls within
s.58(1) or s.62(1) of the Act. The use must be use as a trade
mark. The main argument advanced by the appellants was that the
use of the word "Caterpillar" by them was not a use to indicate
the origin of the services and therefore not use in a trade marx
sense but was a use to indicate the origin of the machines. I
reject this argument. In my opinion, apart from any question of
the effect of s.64(1)(b), that name must be liable at least to
cause confusion within the meaning of s.62(1) as extended by
s.6(3). The next question is whether the addition of the word
""Willoughby's"- removes the likelihood of deception or confusion.
In my opinion it does not. It was common ground that the name
"Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" was used by the
first appellant as a trade mark. No evidence of deception or
confusion was before the learned trial Judge but, when considered
in relation to the registration of "Caterpillar" for the services
for which the respondent has registration, in my opinion that
mark is likely to deceive. Although the mark in question is
"Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" so that the word
"Willoughby's" is part of the mark, I consider that the principle
applied in Saville Perfumery Ld. v. June Perfect Ld. (1941) 58
R.P.C. 147 is applicable. In that case Viscount Maugham at
p-174, with whom Lord Russell of Killowen and Lord Romer agreed,
said:
"Now as the Master of the Rolls pointed cut,
it is true that on @ careful reading of the
printed metter used in connection with the
shampoo powder and the lipstick it apvears
that the origin of the goods to-indicate which
the word 'June' is used, 1s either the June
Hair Curler Co. or June Perfect Ld. 'But', as
he then pointed out, 'this circumstance,
relevant though it may be upon the question of
passing-off, is immaterial upon the question
of infringement. In an infringement action,
once it 1s found that the Defendant's mark is
used as a trade mark, the fact that he makes
it clear that the commercial origin of the
goods indicated by the trade mark is some
business other than that of the plaintiff,
avails him nothing, since infringement
consists in using the mark as a trade mark,
that is, as indicating any origin.' "
See also Kerly's Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names, 10 Ed.
pp.288-289.
As Williams J. said in Mark Foys Ltd. v. Davies Coop &
Co. Ltd. (1956) 95 C.L.R. 190 at p.205:
"Needless to say, if the defendant uses the
words of the plaintiffs' trade mark as
indicating origin it is still an infringement
not withstanding that the defendant always
adds his own name."
It would be logical to conclude that there was some
association between the services the first appellant provided and
the services for which the respondent had registration. It might
be thought that the first appellant was a registered user of the
respondent's service mark or that it held a franchise from, or
was a subsidiary or an authorised agent of, the respondent.
It 1S not irrelevant to bear in mind that there coula pe
a registration for a trade mark in relation to services without
there being any registration cf the same worc in relation to
goods or without there being any gocds known by the same name.
This then takes me to the question of the effect of
s.64(1)(b). This section is applicable if the acts alleged to
constitute an infringement are the use "in good faith" of a
déscription of the character or quality of (the defendant's) ...
services". It seems clear that s.64(1)(b) only applies where
descriptive words are used descriptively in relation to the goods
the subject of the relevant registration. The same principle
must apply to service marks.
Section 24, dealing with registration in Part A
provides, inter alia, that a trade mark is registerable if it
contains or consists of a word "not having direct reference to
the character or quality of the goods or services in respect of
which registration is sought ...". The words in s.64(1)(b)
differ scmewhat and instead of the words "direct reference to"
one finds the words "a description of". This may be a matter of
some consequence. (Picot Ltd. v. Goya Ltd. [1967] R.P.C. 573 at
p-578). I am disinclined to give a broad construction to
s.64(1)(b). The corresponding section, 53A, of the Trade Marks
Act 1905 was considered in Mark Foy's Ltd. v. Davies Coop & Co.
Ltd., supra. Williams J. at p.202 said that it:
oo
"... protects the use by any person of any
bona fide description of the character or
quality of his goods. But that means a
description and not a meré suggestion in
fanciful language. It does not protect an
attempt by the defendants to usurp &
Metaphorical phrase like 'Tub Happy' however
magnetic the force of its public appeal may
be."
His Honour also cited the following passage from J.B.
Stone & Co. Ltd. v. Steelace Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (1929) 46
R.P.C. 406 at p.417 where Lawrence L.J. said:
"In my opinion the object of s.44 (of the
English Trade Marks Act 1905 which corresponds
to s.53A of the Commonwealth Act) was to
safeguard traders in cases where the
registered trade mark consisted of more or
less descriptive words forming part of the
ordinary English language, without the use of
which other traders would find some difficulty
in describing certain qualities of their
goods; but was never intended and does not
operate to enable a trader to make use of a
rival trader's registered trade mark
consisting of a fancy word having no reference
to the character and quality of the goods in
order more readily to sell his own gocds."
Dixon C.J. at p.195 agreed with the judgment of Williams J.
The section was also considered by McTiernan J. in F.H.
Faulding & Co. Ltd. v. Imperial Chemical Industries &c. Ltd.
(1965) 112 C.L.R. 537. At p.543 his Honour said in relation to
s.64(1)(b):
"What this provision protects is the use of a
mark that is genuinely descriptive of the
character or quality of goods in connexion
with which 1t 1s used, where the use 1s purely
for the purposes of description."
his Honour said:
tp
rt
'a
[a]
Bb
ny
"This evidence satisfies me that in describing
its cream as a Barrier Cream the defendant was
using the word BARRIER as a reference to the
character or quality of its cream and that the
word BARRIER can be regarded as a correct
description of the creams. However, I think
that the defendant is not entitled to the
protection of s.64(1)(b) for the reason, as I
hold, the word BARRIER in its setting on the
defendant's package is not used purely for the
purpose of description."
(Emphasis added in each passage.)
An appeal from this judgment was dismissed but upon
different grounds. I consider that the judgments in the appeal
did not qualify the views of McTiernan J. which I have set out.
Eclipse Sleep Products Inc. v. The Registrar of Trade
Marks (1957) 99 C.L.R. 300 was a case concerning an application
to register a mark in respect of mattresses. Broadly, the mark
consisted of a device which depicted a spring enclosing the words
"springwall mattress". In a joint judgment at pp.322-323 Dixon
c.J., Williams and Kitto JJ. said:
"Section 53A of the Trade Marks Act, however,
the meaning of which was discussed to some
extent in Mark Foy's Ltd. v. Davies Coop & Co.
Ltd. (1956) 95 C.L.R. 190, provides that no
registration under the Act shall interfere
with the use by any person of any bona fide
10.
description of the character or quality of his
goods. The object of this section is not to
afford a guide as to whether a word is adapted
to distinguish the goods of the proprietor of
the trade mark from those of other persons.
It 1s intended only to protect traders in the
bona fide use of a word which has been
registered and must pe treated as adapted to
distinguish such goods."
and a little later said:
"Section 53A would however protect the bona
fide use by other traders of the words
'SPRING' and 'WALL' in order to describe the
character or quality of their goods, assuming
the compound word to be an essential feature
of the applicant's mark. Accordingly there
does not appear to be any sound reason for
requiring the applicant to disclaim any right
to the exclusive use of the words 'SPRING' and
'WALL' as a condition of granting the
application. But, as s.53A applies only to
verbal descriptions, not to require the
applicant to disclaim any right to the
exclusive use of the device of the border
might well result in the applicant's acquiring
the exclusive right to use upon mattresses
containing border stabilizer springs a device
indicating that they do contain such springs."
The extent of s.53A in the Trade Marks Act 190
5 was also
considered by Higgins J. in Thomson v. B. Seppelt & Sons Ltd.
(1925) 37 C.L.R. 305, a case where it was sought to register
"Great Western" for wines. Higgins J. at p.315 said that in his
opinion the words "Great Western" were not a description of the
character or quality of the applicant's wines.
Some consideration was also given to s.62(1)
in Angoves
Pty. Ltd. v. Johnson, supra. In my opinion the use of the word
"Caterpillar" by the first appellant in the mark "Willoughby''s
+
Caterpillar Loader Eire Service" Goes not describe the "cualiczy"
of the services nor indeed their "character". The word may, és
is submitted by the appellants, indicate that Caterpillar
vehicles are being hired but I do not consider that that is a
description of the character of the services. If there was a
particular type of loader which some people might describe as
"Caterpillar" because of its construction, we might have to
consider whether that type of loader could be properly described
as a caterpillar loader regardless of who was the manufacturer.
In any event the loaders being hired by the first appellant were
not of a construction appropriate to be described as
"Caterpillar". "Caterpillar" is a word which is not descriptive
in any relevant sense. Because of the conclusion I have reached
it is unnecessary to consider whether the appellants' use of the
name was bona fide. I mention that I have examined the judgments
in Caterpillar Tractor Co. v. Caterpillar Loading Pty. Ltd.
(1981) 28 S.A.S.R. 307 and in the appeal to this Court, 38 A.L.R.
394.
I would dismiss the appeal with costs. The respondent
indicated that the only injunction which it was concerned to
retain was that in order 1(a) made by the trial Judge.
The orders are set out in the judgment of Lockhart J.
It will be seen that order 1(a@) was made by the learned trial
Judge not cnly in respect of the aerendants ana gach of shem but
alse in vespect of 'the directors, servants anda agents or any cor
of them by the aicectors, servants and agents cr any Of them De
restrainea. The effect of the erder i(a) would therefore pve to
restrain not only the acts of the defendants by their directors,
servants and agents but also the independent acts of the
directors, servants and agents. The order in its present form
£
would appear to extend to persons, whether parties or not, for
example, to present and future servants and agents. In my
opinion, although our attention was not directed to this
question, I do not think the Court can endorse the order in its
present form.
I propose that order l(a) of the learned trial Judge be
affirmed in an altered form so that the opening four lines read:
"Each of the defendants being the defendant Caterpillar Loader
Hire(Holdings) Pty. Ltd. by itself, its directors, servants and
agents and Miljan Anton Willoughby and Barbara Jean Willoughby be
restrained."
I would vacate orders l(b), 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8. I would
stay order l(a) for fourteen days and remit the matter to the
Supreme Court of South Australia to hear any application which
the appellants may wish to make for a further stay of that order
for a reasonable period tc enaple it to be complied with ina
practical manner.
re
Le?)
NS AetTendants Tetng THe LerSsenrant BUSS TLL waY cancer
Yare(Nolasngs) Pty. Ltd. by ttseif, its diresctors, servants
and aqents and Miljan Anton Willoughby and Barbara Jean
Willoughby be restrained from infringing the trade mark
"Caterpillar" registered in the plaintiff's name under the
Trade Marks Act 1955 in Part A of the Register of Trade Marks
as No. 327469 in relation inter alia to rental and leasing
services in respect of machinery and equipment (being
services included in Class 36) and the trade mark
"Caterpillar" registered in the plaintiff's name under the
Trade Marks Act 1955 in Part A of the Register of Trade Marks
as No. 327470 in relation inter alia to rental and leasing
services in respect of machinery and equipment including the
hire of bulldozers and other earth moving machines (being
services included in Class 37).
Order 1 is stayed for fourteen (14) days and the matter is
remitted to the Supreme Court of South Australia for the
hearing of any application which the appellants may wish to
make for afurther stay of that order for a reasonable
period.
Orders 1 , 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 of the crders made by the
trial Judge are vacated.
ay
14.
IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DISTRICT REGISTRY
GENERAL DIVISION
No. G26 of 1982
ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME:
COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
CATERPILLAR LOADER HIRE
(HOLDINGS) PTY. LTD. (trading
as Willoughby's Caterpillar
Loader Hire Service), MILJAN
ANTON WILLOUGHBY and BARBARA
JEAN WILLOUGHBY
Appellants
- and -
CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO.
Respondent
CORAM: Franki, Lockhart and Neaves JJ.
19 July, 1983
LOCKHART J: This appeal is
the respondent,
action brought
infringement of
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
from a zudement given in favour of
Caterpillar Tractor Co., upon the trial of an
in the Supreme
two trade marks
Court of South Australia for the
ry
~
Yr
services 2ach consisting of
the word "Caterpillar". The trade marks are cegistered in the
name of the respondent, a company incorporated in the U.S.A.,
under the Trade Marxs Act 1955 ("the Act") 1n Pact A of the
Register of Trade Marks. Trade mark No. 327469 is registered in
relation to various services, including rental and leasing
services in respect of machinery and equipment. These services
were treated by the Registrar of Trade Marks as falling within
Class 36, namely "insurance and financial services".
Trade mark No. 327470 is also registered in relation to
various services including rental and leasing services in respect
of machinery and equipment including the hire of bulldozers and
other earth moving machines. These services were treated by the
Registrar as: falling within class 37, namely "construction and
repair services".
The validity of the registration of the trade marks has
not been challenged.
The respondent applied for registration of the two trade
marks on 1 February 1979 and registration was granted on 23 June
1980. The registration subsists for seven years from 1 February
1979. 1 February 1979 was the date on which the Trade Marks
Amendment Act 1978 (No. 130 of 1978: "the Amendment Act") came
into operation and introduced into the Act for the first time the
registration of trade marks in relation to "services".
The two trade marks were reqgistered as associated trade
Marks pursuant to s.36. The Schedule to the Register records the
associated marks as including the trade mark "Caterpillar"
registered in i911 in respect of machinery of which the
registered proprietor is the respondent.
The facts material to the appeal may be briefly stated.
For many years the respondent's Australian subsidiary,
Caterpillar of Australia Limited, has distributed throughout
Australia a wide range of earth moving and other equipment
manufactured by the respondent in the U.S.A. including a range of
loaders, some with wheels and others with tracks, bearing the
trade mark "Caterpillar".
On 17 July 1980 Cavill Power Products Pty. Limited
; ;
("Cavill"), a@ company' incorporated in South Australia, was
registered as the registered user of both service marks. Since
October 1972 Cavill has been the sole dealer in South Australia
and Western New South Wales in "Caterpillar" equipment
manufactured in the U.S.A. by the respondent and exported to
Australia. The equipment sold by Cavill under the name
"Caterpillar" consists of earth moving and construction equipment
including loaders, some with wheels and others with tracks.
Cavill is the sole dealer authorised by the respondent to service
"Caterpillar" machinery and equipment in South Australia.
Since about April 1973 Cavill has haired out
"Caterpillar" fork lift trucks to the public, but it does not
hire out "Caterpillar" loaders exceot in a limited number of
cases either where one of its customers wishes to purchase a
loader but one is not immediately available or where a loader is
being repaired or serviced by Cavill for a customer and in either
case the customer wishes to use a loader in the meantime.
In 1959 Miljan Anton Willoughby and his wife Barbara
Jean Willoughby, the second and third appellants, commenced
business-in partnership as sand and metal contractors under the
name. "M.A. & B.J. Willoughby". They acquired and used two trucks
for the purpose of carrying on the business. In about 1973 they
purchased a second hand "Caterpillar" front-end loader
manufactured by the respondent. They hired out the machine with
Mr Willoughby as its operator at hourly rates. About twelve
months later they bought a second "Caterpillar" front-end loader
from Cavill. By then they had disposed of the trucks and
thereafter confined their activities to hiring out front-end
loaders.
In August 1974 Mr and Mrs Willoughby applied for and
were granted registration under the Business Names Act 1963
(S.A.) ("the Business Names Act") of the business name
"Caterpillar Loader Hire Service in respect of the business
ey
described as hire of front-end loaders" ts commence on 1
A
September 1974. They continued to use that business name until
October 1976.
In February 1976 the patent attorney acting for the
respondent wrote to Mr and Mrs Willoughby complaining of their
use of the word "Caterpillar" as part of their business name
"Caterpillar Loader Hire Service". Correspondence then ensued
between the patent attorney and the solicitors for the respondent
on the one hand and the solicitors for Mr and Mrs Willoughby on
the other hand. Mr and Mrs Willoughby placed an advertisement in
the Adelaide Advertiser published on 15 June 1976 stating that
their business was not connected with Caterpillar Tractor Co. of
the U.S.A.
_ On . 2 November 1976 Mr and Mrs Willoughby gave notice
under the Business Names Act that on 27 October 1976 they had
ceased. to use the business name "Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service". On the same day Mr and Mrs Willoughby caused the first
appellant to be incorporated. Upon its incorporation the first
appellant tock cover the business previously carried on by Mr and
Mrs Willoughby under the name "Caterpillar Loader Hire Service".
In late November 1976 the first appellant was granted
registration under the Business Names Act of the business name
"Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service". Mr and Mrs
Willoughby are the only shareholders and directors of the first
appellant.
Since its incorporation the first aprellant has carried
on the business of hiring front-end ioaders under the name
"Willoughby's Caterpiliar Loader Hire Service". The business has
continued to be the hiring out at hourly rates of front-end
loaders manufactured by the respondent with operators to work
them.
be
In November 1976 the first appellant owned two
"Caterpillar" front-end loaders. It acquired three more and by
the date of trial (August 1982) it owned five of them. Each
machine bears the name "Caterpillar". It owns three vans which
are. used by operators to provide a "back-up service" for the
loaders let. out om hire. Until June 1977 the words "Caterpillar
Loader Hire" were painted om both sides of each van in large
black lettering and beneath those words but in less bold
Iettering the word "Service" appeared 'in script design.
The first appellant also used letterheads, invoices and
statements on the top of which there were two configurations
depicting front-end loaders, and the words "Caterpillar Loader
Hire Service". The words "Caterpillar Loader Hire" stood out
more prominently than the word "Service". The first appellant
arranged for the insertion in the White and Yellow Pages of the
Adelaide Telephone Directory of entries under the name
"Caterpillar Loader Hire Service". The entry in the Yellow Pages
was in the form of an advertisement displaying the woras
"Caterpillar Loader Hire" in contrast to the wora "Service". In
June 1977 the word "Willoughby's" was superimposed, in script
design, above the words "Caterpillar Loader Hire" on che
signwriting on the vans and on the first appellant's stationery.
In about June 1977 Mr Willoughby took steps to change
the entries in the telephone directory. Altered entries first
appeared in October 1978. The entry in the Yellow Pages appeared
as "Willoucghby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" with prominence
still being given to the words "Caterpillar Loader Hire". The
shirts and overalls worn by operators of the machines had
embroidered on them a monogram bearing the name "Willoughby's
Caterpillar Hire Service". There has been no change in the style
of the monogran.
In December. 1980 the respondent commenced these
proceedings in the Supreme Court of South Australia to restrain
the appellants from infringing the two registered trade marks
"Caterpillar". The learned trial Judge (Walters J.) gave
judgment in favour of the respondent and granted injunctions
restraining the appellants from infringing the two marks. His
Honour granted certain other relief to which I shall refer later.
The appellants appealed to this Court from his Honour's judgment.
Before turning to the arguments advanced before us I
shall say something about service marks and their place in the
Act. This is the first case to my knowledge where service marks
have come under the scrutiny of the courts of this country. Some
reference to the history of service marks ana the purpose they
serve is called for as 1t assists in both understanding and
resolving the questions which arise in this case.
Until the Amendment Act Australian Trade Marks Acts
limited their recognition of trade marks to marks used or
proposed to be used in relation to goods. This limitation still
applies in the United Kingdom notwithstanding the recommendation
of the Mathys Committee which was established to examine British
trade mark law and practice. In its report in 1974 (CMND 5601)
the Committee said (para. 70):-
"(L) That provision should be made in the
Trade. Marks Act for the registration. of
marks used or proposed to be used for
distinguishing services offered in the
course of trade or business.
(ii) That the provisions relating to marks for
goods. in. the Trade Marks Act should apply
sao far as tis feasible to marks for
services.
(Lit) That the prohibition of registration of
identical and nearly resembling marks for
services should apply inthe case of
closely related services.
(iv) That there should be provision for the
refusal of Marks for services which
conflict with the same or nearly
resembling marks already registered for
closely related goods and vice versa."
Extension of the registration of trade marks to include
marks used in relation to services has been effected in the trade
marks legislation of many countries. The U.S.A. was the first to
legislate in this respect by the Lanham Trade Mark Act 1946. By
}
1970. 43 countries including the U.S.A., Canada. France, Italy,
Sweden, USSR. the Philippines, Taiwan and d«orea had amenaed thezr
trade marks laws to provide statutory protection for service
marks.
The twentieth century has witnessed the growth and
increasing importance of commercial and industrial services.
This has been reflected in the demand by organizations
representing industry, trade, commerce and the professions for
the extension er trade marks legislation to include the
registration of marks used to distinguish services. The services
involved are extensive and include insurance, finance,
advertising, the construction and repair industry,
communications, transport, education, entertainment, hiring and
leasing.
Various circumstances combined to delay the introduction
of legislation to provide for service marks until the enactment
in 1978 of the Amendment Act. Those circumstances were the
comparatively recent expression of the need to extend the
protection of the Act to service marks, the tendency of
Australian trade marks legislation to follow the United Kingdom
legislation, the absence of any extension by the United Kingdom
Parliament of protection to service marks and the long held view
in this country, since dispellec or at least seriously doubted,
that the Commonwealth had no sower to legislate for registration
of service marks based on tne judgment cf che High Court in
Attorney-General For the State of New South wWaies v. The Srewer7
Emplovees Union of N.S.W. ("Union Lapel Case") (1908) 5 C.L.R.
bd
Prior to the Amendment Act coming into operation on l
February 1979 the protection of service marks was left largely to
passing off actions, business names and companies legislation,
the registration under the Act of trade marks for goods used in
the course of supplying a service (for example, the proprietor of
a hotel chain registering goods marks in respect of packaged
foods, towels and linen, stationery and souvenirs) and the
comsumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974
("the Trade Practices Act"), in particular ss. 52, 53 and 55A.
The way in which the Act was amended to extend its
protection toa services was broadly to apply the provisions
retating to goods .marks sq far as feasible to service marks.
This has also been the practice in other countries where service
marks are registered, notably the U.S.A. and Canada. The
principal machinery adopted by the Amendment Act to achieve this
purpose was to extend the definition of a "trade mark" in sub-s.
6(1) of the Act to include a mark used in relation to services.
Thus the definition of "trade mark" now reads:-
"*trade mark' means -
(a) except in relation co Part XI. 2 mark
used or vorcrcsed to 26 used in rceaiaticn
to goods 2f services For the survose cr
indicating, or so aS tO indicate, a
il.
connexion in the course of trade
between the goods or services and a
person who has the right, either as
proprietor or as registered user, to
use the mark, whether with or without
an indication of the identity of that
person; and
(b) in relation to Part XI, a mark
registrable, or registered, in Part C
of the Register;"
In this way the provisions as to registration,
associated trade marks, infringement, assignment, registered
users, certification and defensive marks apply equally to marks
used in relation to goods or services.
The Act defines: neither "services" nor "goods". In the
absence of a statutory definition of "services" in the Act it
will fall to the courts tc give meaning to the word. Some
guidance may be obtained from the Mathys Committee's
recommendation (para. 67) that any definition of "services" in
the Trade Marks Act 1938 (U.K.) should be broad enough to include
the following types of service:-
"(i) consultancy and advisory services which-
involve no goods;
(iL) similar services which involve goods and can
be provided either with or without the
promotion, or sale, of goods; and
(iii) services which necessarily involve the use,
or sale, of goods."
The definition of "services" in the Trade Practices Act
1974 (sub-s. 4(1)) may also be a useful quide. The breadth of
the notion of services is lilustrated by the eight classes of
ate.
12.
services which nave been adoptea by the Traae Marks Regulations -
Statutory Rules 1979 Ne. 11. That classification corresponds to
the classification of "services" used under the Nice Aqreement of
1957, as subsequently revised, to which Australia has acceded.
Although service marks are in their infancy in
Australia they may give rise to problems of confusion between
service marks themselves, and between goods marks on the one hand
and service marks on the other, of greater difficulty and
subtlety than has previously been experienced in the case of
goods marks alone. It is obvious that there is likely to be
confusion if substantially the same or deceptively similar trade
Marks are used by different proprietors, one for goods and the
other for services, where the goods and services are closely
rélated. Examples that .present practical difficulties are the
sale of godds. such as data processing equipment and the sale of
programs for their operation; the sale of curtains and furnishing
materials onthe one hand, and the sewing of curtains on the
other, as interior decorators often sell curtains and perform the
service of sewing; the sale of clothes on the one hand and
tailoring on the other because the service of custom tailoring is
frequently provided in addition to the sale of ready-made
clothes; and the sale of educational material on the one hand and
educational services (language courses, home study programs) on
the other.
13.
In addition to similarity between qoods anda services
there may be confusion between trade marks used by different
proprietors for similar services: for example the business of a
real estate agent of selling flats on the one hand and the
business of managing flats and bodies corporate on the other.
Confusion is more likely to arise where services
protected by service marks necessarily involve the use or sale of
goods or where services (for example, consultancy services)
involve goods but can be provided either with or without the sale
er promotion of goods. Parliament recognised this potentiality
for confusion between marks for goods and services where they are
closely related to each other by amending various sections of the
Act. including s. 23 as to non-use of trade marks, 3.33 as to
Prior registration cof conflicting marks and s.36 relating to
' registration ef associated trade marks.
The potentiality for confusion between trade marks lies
behind the legislative purpose of refusing registration to marks
the use of which would be likely to deceive or cause confusion
(para. 28(a))}. This was the case with marks for goods and now
extends to marks for services whether as between themselves or as
between marks for goods and services.
Until the "association" provisicns of the Trade Marks
Act 1905 (U.K.) were introduced one person could not register two
marks substantially the same: In the Matter of John Player &
Sons' Application for a Trade Mark (1901) 18 R.P.C. 65. The Act
does not deny registration to confusingly similar trade marks
owned by the one person, but by the "association" provisions (ss.
36 - 39) the Act seeks to ensure that such marks remain in the
same ownership. By sub-s. 36(1) the Registrar may at any time
require that two trade marks be entered in the Register as
"associated trade. marks" where the words are substantially
identical or soa neariy resemble each other as to be likely to
deceive or cause confusion and some of the goods or services for
which one mark is registered, or is the subject of an application
for registration, are of the same description as, or are closely
related. to, goods.) or services covered by the other mark. In
addition the Act deems certain marks to be, and to be registered
as, associated trade marks. By s.39 where several marks are
registered as a series in the one registration those marks are
deemed to be, and to be registered as, associated trade marks.
Part D of the Register is intended to protect marks that
have been used for certain goods or services to such an extent
that the1r unauthorised use for different goods or services would
be likely to mislead the public. These marxs are not adequately
protected by registration in Part A or Part B because of the
provisions of the Act (s. 22) celating to non-use.
15.
Defensive registration of well known trade marks is
procured by s.93 and a trade mark so registered cannot be removed
from the Register for non-use (sub-s. 93(2)). Registration in
Part D can be achieved only where the same mark is already
registered in Part A. By sub-s. 93(4) where a trade mark is
registered as a defensive trade mark, it and the mark as
otherwise registered in the name of the same person are deemed to
be, and to be registered as, associated trade marks.
By s.37 associated trade marks are assignable or
transmissible only as a whole and not separately but, subject to
the Act, they are for all other purposes deemed to have been
registered as separate trade marks. The "association" provisions
of the Act are thus intended to prevent deceptively similar trade
marks from falling into separate ownership.
Speaking generally, the closer the relationship between
particular goods and services the greater is the potentiality for
confusion between trade marks for those goods and services. This
possibility of confusion is heightened when the trade marks for
goods or services are household names such as the word
"Caterpillar" is in this case. However, not every use of a mark
which is identical or substantially 1rdentical with, or
deceptively similar to, a registered trade mark infringes the
proprietary right which the proprietor of the mark possesses.
16.
Sub-section 58(1) of the Act states that the registered
proprietor of a trade mark nas the right to the exclusive use ot
the trade mark in relation to the goods or services in respect of
which the trade mark is registered. Sub-section 62(1) provides
that a registered trade mark is infringed by a person who, not
being the registered proprietor or registered user by way of
permitted use, uses a mark which is substantially identical with
or deceptively similar to the trade mark in the course of trade,
in relation to goods or services in respect of which the trade
mark is registered.
It is well established by high authority that it is
implied both im sub-ss. 58(1) and 62(1) that the use which is
there referred toa is limited to the use of amark as a trade
mark. It is sufficient to mention the decisions of the House of
Lords: in Irving's Yeast-Vite [Limited v. Horsenail (1934) S51
R.P.C. Il0 and of the High Court in Mark Foy's Limited v. Davies
Coop. & Co. Limited (1956) 95 C.L.R. 190 and The Shell Co. of
Australia Limited v. Esso Standard Oil (Australia) Limited (1963)
109 C.L.R. 407.
In the Yeast-Vite Case, the Plaintiffs were the
proprietors of the registered trade mark "Yeast Vite" and it was
held that this mark was not infringed by the defendant selling in
his shop a preparation labelled "Yeast Tablets a substitute for
'Yeast-Vite'" which was mot the oclaintaifi's preparation. It was
held by the House of Lords that the use of the expression "Yeast-
17.
Vite" on the defendant's preparation was to indicate the
plaintiff's preparation and to distinguish the aerendant's
preparation from it. It was not a use of the expression as a
trade mark, that is as indicating the origin of goods in the
plaintiff.
The principle that a trade mark is not infringed unless
the offending mark is used as a trade mark still stands today,
but it must be viewed in the light of the protection which the
Act now affords to services. This consideration lies at the
heart of the present case.
Once the same trade mark is registered for both goods
and services in the name of one proprietor questions of
infringement enter a grey area, especially where those goods and
services are closely related. This case provides an excellent
example. It is easy to say that "Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader
Hire Service" means that "Willoughby" conducts the service of
hiring out Caterpillar loaders and that, viewed this way, there
is no necessary association between the respondent and the hiring
service conducted by "Willoughby". But once the Act extends its
protection to the same mark in the same ownership for goods and
closely related services, as it does here, it is more difficult
for the appellants to say that their use of the phrase
"Willoughby''s Caterpillar Loader Hire Service", which is
admittedly use as atrade mark for services and which includes
the very mark to which the vrotection of the Act extends, 1s
otherwise than the use of the word "Caterpillar" as a trade mark.
FA
18.
The appellants conceded that the appellant company used
the words "Willoughby's Caterpiliar Loader Hire Service" asa
trade mark distinctive of the service provided, but asserted that
this reference to the word "Caterpillar" in the name is solely to
Caterpillar goods and in particular to Caterpillar loaders. It
was submitted that the reference to "Caterpillar" does not
indicate that the respondent is connected or associated with the
hiring services. It is as if the appellant company said -
"This is Willoughby's Hire Service, we hire
Caterpillar Ioaders".
This: was. the primary submission of the appellants. When
someone sees the words "Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service" appearing on the first appellant's vans, stationery and
im the Adelaide telephone directory and elsewhere it is strongly
arguable that it would convey to him that "Willoughby" conducts a
hire service of Caterpillar loaders and that the reference to
"Caterpillar" does not suggest that the respondent is the origin
of or connected with the hiring service.
Notwithstanding the force of the appellants' submission
I have come to the conclusion that the use of the mark
"Caterpillar" in the context of "Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader
Hire Service" 1s a use denoting that such services originate from
the respondent or that the respondent has some connection with
them. The appellant company 2:5 saying that the trade source or
19.
origin of its hiring services is linked or associated with the
xy Hace
bi)
ac
ti
ie)
respondent. The phrase "Willoughby s Caterpzllar
Service" carries in my opinion the implication of use of the mark
"Caterpillar" as indicating both that the goods being hired are
Caterpillar loaders and that the hiring services have some link
or association with the respondent. This is the essential
question on which the appeal turns.
The submission of the appellants, if accepted, would
Lead to the conclusion that registered service marks would be of
little, if any, practical benefit to their proprietors where the
services protected by the marks necessarily involve the use or
sale of goods to which the services are closely related and the
goods are protected by the same ora substantially identical
mark.
I reject this first submission of the appellants.
Some time was devoted in argument to the question
whether any infringement of the appellants arose from s.58 or
s.62 of the Act. The scope of the equivalent sections in the
Trade Marks Act 1905 (ss. 50 and 53) was considered by the High
Court in Mark Foy's Limited v. Davies Coon & Co. Limited (supra).
Dixon C.J. and Williams J. held that s.53 was an appendage to
s.50, its function being tO widen the definition of
"infringement" so as to include cases where the mark used was not
the registered trade mark itseif but on
am
substantialiy identical
with it o¢ so arly resembling it as cc be likely te deceive.
rs)
oD
Kitto J. expr d no opinion on that question.
w
ss
i)
In Angoves Pty. Limited v. Johnson (1982) 43 A.L.R. 349,
a decision of a Full Court of this Court (Franki, Deane and
Fitzgerald JJ.), different views were expressed on this question.
Franki J. said in effect (at pp. 351-2) that s.58 may be
infringed by the use of the actual mark itself even if
accompanied by other words. Fitzgerald J. said (at p. 371) that
sub-s. 58(1) "is confined to the use of the exact registered
mark, without addition or alteration." Deane J. did not
expressly decide. this question, but his remarks suggest that he
favoured the view of Fitzgerald J.
I donot find it necessary to consider this question
because, once the primary submission of the appellants is
answered against them, in my opinion the respondent's trade
marks, on the facts of this case, have been infringed whether
under sub-s. 58(1) or sub-s. 62(1). If Franki J's view in
Angoves Case is applied, plainly the respondent's trade marks
have been infringed under sub-s. 58(1). If Fitzgerald J's view
is applied then sub-s. 58(1) has not been infringed and it is
then necessary to turn to sub-s. 62(1). It seems plain that if
that latter sub-section applies the appellant company's mark
"Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" is substantially
identical with or deceptively similar to tne registered trade
marks of the respondent, given that the orzmary submission of the
21.
appellants 1s rejected. In other words, once it 1s accepted that
the mark "Willougnby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" denotes
the origin of the services as being linked with the respondent,
the conclusion is plain that the appellant company's mark is
substantially identical with or deceptively similar to the
registered service marks of the respondent. Counsel for the
appellants did not really contend to the contrary.
Counsel for the appellants conducted the appeal on the
footing that if the primary submission was rejected the appeal
then turned on whether para. 64(1)(b) applied to prevent any
infringement of the respondent's Marks. That paragraph
provides:-—
"64.{(I) Notwithstanding anything contained in
this Act, the following acts do not
constitute an infringement of a trade
mark: °
ereoe
(Bb) the use in good faith by a person
of a description of the character
or quality of his goods or
services." '
Paragraph 64(1)(b) proceeds on the assumption that the
monopoly conferred upon the registered proprietor of a trade mark
does not prevent other people from using in good faith a word
Which describes the character or quality of their goods or
services.
22.
Lord Herschell said in Eastman Pnotcaqrapnic Materzals
Company Limited v. Comptroiler-General of Patents, Desians and
Trade Marks (1898) A.C. 571 (at p.580):-
"...it would obviously have been out of the
question to permit a person by registering a
trade-mark in respect of a particular ciass of
goods to obtain a monopoly of the use of a word
having reference to the character or quality of
those goods. The vocabulary of the English
language is common property: it belongs alike
to all; and no one ought to be permitted to
prevent the other members of the community from =.
using. for purposes of description a word which
has reference to the character or quality of
goods..."
This passage was cited with approval by McTiernan J. in
F.H. Faulding & Co. Limited v. Imperial Chemical Industries of
Australia and New Zealand Limited (1965) 112 C.L.R. 537. His
Honour said (at p. 543) that, although the observations of Lord
Herschell were made with respect to a provision corresponding to
para. 24(1)(d) ef the present Australian Act, they were
nevertheless "apposite to the policy inspiring a provision of the
nature of s.64(1)(b)". His Honour went on to say -
"What this provision protects is the use ofa
mark that is genuinely descriptive of the
character or quality of goods in connexion with
which it is used, where the use 1s purely for
the purposes of description. 'The object of
this section (s.53A) is not to afford a guide
as to whether a word 1s adapted tc distinguish
the goods of the proprietor of the trade mark
from those of other persons. It as intended
only to protect traders in the bona fide use of
a word which has been reqistered and must be
treated as adapted to distinguish such goods':
Ecizpse Sleep Products Inc. v. The Resistrar of
Trade Marks (1957) 99 C.L.R. 300, at p.223.
This statement applies, in my opinion, to
23.
The reference to 5.53A was to that section as it appeared in the
Trade Marks Act 1905.
The question whether a word describes the character or
quality of a person's goods or services has been considered by
courts in various cases. one obtains little guidance as to the
meaning of the words "character" or "Quality" where used in
reference to goods or services, but the circumstances in which
those words have been considered give some guidance to their
application in the present case. I will mention some of them,
but it must be remembered that they are cases concerned with the
registration of marks. The word "ribbon", in relation to a
dentifrice, was held to refer to a character or quality of dental
cream in that it described the manner in which the dental cream
would come out of the tube and lie on the brush, in the shape of
a ribbon: Im the Matter of an Application by Colgate & Co. for
the Reqistration of a Trade Mark (1913) 30 R.P.C. 262. The noun
"charm" in respect of hosiery, being wearing apparel, was held to
have the same significance as the adjective "charming" and to
describe in a laudatory sense the character or quality of the
goods: In the Matter of a Trade Mark of Kevstone Knitting Millis
Ltd. (1928) 45 R.P.C. 421. The noun "perfection" was held to have
the same meaning as the adjective "perfect" and as such to
describe the character or quality of any goods: In the Matter of
an Application by Joseph Crosftieid & Sons Ltd. to Register a
Trade Mark ("Perfection") (1909) 26 R.P.C. 837.
In this case I cannot see how the use by the appellant
company of the word "Caterpillar" ain the larger ohrase
"Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" 1s a description
of the character or quality of the hiring services offered by it.
In my opinion it says nothing whatever as to the character or
quality of those services.
It is therefore unnecessary to express any view as to
whether the use by the appellant company of the word
"Caterpillar" in the phrase "Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service" was a use in good faith or not.
'The Orders made by the trial Judge included the
following: -—
_ Ll. . That. the defendants and each of them and the
directors servants and agents of any of them
be restrained and an injunction is hereby
granted restraining them and every of them
(a) from infringing the trade mark
"Caterpillar" registered in the
Plaintiff's name under the Trade Marks
Act 1955 in Part A of the Register of
Trade Marks as No. 327469 in relation
inter alia to rental and leasing
services in respect of machinery and
equipment (being services included in
Class 36) and the trade mark
"Caterpillar" registered in the
plaintiff's name under the Trade Marks
Act 1955 in Part A of the Register of
Trade Marxs as No. 327470 in relation
inter alia to rental and leasing
services ain respect of machinery and
equipment including the hire ot
bulldozers and other earth moving
machines (being services included in
Class 37);
'a
2.
25.
(b) from carrying on business under the
business name ot "Willoughby 's
Caterpillar Loader Hire Service", or
under any name including the word
"Caterpillar" calculated to induce the
belief that the business of the
defendants is comnected or associated
or has any link with the plaintiff's
business relating to the rental leasing
and hiring out of machinery and
equipment including earthmoving
machines.
That on or before the 30th day of November
1982 the defendants do remove or obliterate
er cause to be removed or obliterated the
word "Caterpillar"
(a) from the motor vehicies used by the
defendants in the conduct of the
business hitherto carried on by them
under the name "Willoughby 's
Caterpillar Loader Hire Service";
(b) from ait Letterheads invoices
statements stationery and other papers
or documents hitherto used by the
defendants in the conduct of the said
business to the extent to which the
said word "Caterpillar" is incorporated
in the business name ""Willoughby's
Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" or in
any other business name of the
defendants.
That on or before the 30th day of November
1982 the defendants do take such steps as
may be necessary to remove the word
"Caterpillar" from the entry and
advertisement respectively appearing in the
"White Pages" and the "Yellow Pages" of the
Adelaide Telephone Directory and in the Home
and Business Directory published by
Springfields & Associates for 1982-1983 to
the extent to which the said word
"Caterpillar" is incorporated in the
business name "Willoughby's Caterpillar
Loader Hire Service" or in any other
business name of the defendants.
26.
4, That cn or before 30th day of November 1982
the defendants do take such steps as may be
necessary to obtain the necessary consents
of the Commissioner for Corporate Affairs to
the change of the corporate name of the
defendant company and to the change of
registration ort the Dusiness name
"Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service" in order to remove the word
"Caterpillar" from each of such corporate
name and business name.
5S. That the plaintiff be at liberty to apply in
Chambers on two days' notice to the
defendants for the purpose of enforcing the
injunction and orders hereinbefore
appearing.
6. That. the defendants or any of them may be at
liberty to apply in Chambers on two days'
notice to the plaintiff for a stay of
proceedings upon this: judgment and order."
We were informed by counsel for all parties that orders
Z, 3 and 4 were stayed by the trial Judge upon the application of
the appellants pending the determination of this appeal.
In my opinion the respondent's rights are sufficiently
protected if relief is confined to Order l(a). Counsel for the
respondent informed us that the respondent was content with this
course.
I would dismiss the appeai with costs. I agree in the
Orders proposed by Franki J. ~ ies -
IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AUSTRALTA DISTRICT REGISTRY No. G26 of 1982
GENERAL DIVISION
ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
BETWEEN : CATERPILLAR LOADER HIRE (HOLDINGS)
PTY. LID. (trading as Willoughby's
Caterpillar Loader Hire Service),
MILJ. ANTON WILLOUGHBY and BARBARA
JEAN WLLLOUGHBY
Appellants
AND: CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO.
Respondent
CORAM: ' Franki, Lockhart & Neaves JJ.
19 duly, 1983
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
Neaves J:
Prior to the amendments made to the Trade Marks
Act 1955 by the Trade Marks Amendment Act 1978, the
expression "trade mark" was relevantly defined to mean
a mark used or proposed to be used in relation to goods
for the purpose of indicating, or so as to indicate, a
connexion in the course of trade between the goods and
a person who had the right, either as proprietor or as
registered user, to use the mark, whether with or without
an indication of the identity of that person (sub-section
6(1)). The purpose of the Trade Marks Amendment Act 1978
was to broaden the business and commercial activities
in relation to which trade marks might qualify for
statutory protection. TharAct extended the scope of
protection provided by the then existing legislation
by permitting the registration of marks used or proposed
to be used in the course of trade to identify and distinguish
the services supplied by a particular business. The general
approach was to apply the provisions of the trade marks
legislation to marks used or proposed to be used for
distinguishing services offered in the course of trade or
business and to achieve this result by replacing the words
"goods" by the words "goods or services" wherever appropriate
throughout the Act. There is no definition of the word
"services" but some guidance as to the scope of that expres-
sion may be found im the Report of-the Committee to Examine
British Trade Mark Law and Practice (the Mathys Committee)
made in 1974 (Comd. 5601). According to that report (para.
67) the services concerned may be divided broadly into
three categories:-
"(i) consultancy and advisory services which
involve no goods;
(iL) similar services which involve goods
and can be provided either with or
without the promotion, or sale, of goods;
(iii) services which necessarily involve the
use, or sale, of goods."
The Mathys Committee recognised that there
could be conflict in the use of the same mark by different
businesses, one for goods and the other for services.
Paragraph 68 of the report reads:-
"The grouping of services in the International
Classification of Goods and Services brings together
under separate classes the services which are likely
to be regarded in trade or business as closely related
and so there is an indication of the areas where the
use of the same mark by different businesses for
services might lead to conflict. There is no such
indication of where the use of the same mark by
different businesses, one for services and the
other for goods, might lead to conflict. We have no
daubt, however, that in many cases conflict would
arise and that marks used to distinguish one should
not be registered by a different business to dis-
tinguish the other where deception or confusion
would be Likely to result. We therefore believe
that the principles of section 12(1) of the Trade
Marks Act 1938 prohibiting the registration of
identical and resembling trade marks, as also the
principles of section 12(2) as regards concurrent
user, and of section 12(3) as regards the position
of co-pending applications, should be applicable
- imcases of conflict between marks for services
- amé for: closely related goods. We also think that.
the. principles as. regards the association af marks
under section 23 should apply."
t
Similar considerations may be taken to have influenced
the Commonwealth. Parliament in the amendments. made by
the Trade. Marks Amendment Act 1978 to sections 23, 33
and 36 of the Trade Marks Act 1955. Section 23 contains
provisions relating to the non-use of a trade mark,
sectiom 33 to substantially identical or deceptively
similar trade marks and section 36 to associated trade
marks.
The amendments made by the Act of 1978 were
proclaimed to come into operation on 1 February 1979.
On that date amendments to the Trade Marks Regulations
q
also came into operation. Those amendments included the
specification, as prescribed classes of services for the
purposes of sub-section 31(1) of the Act, of the services
described in the Fourth Schedule to the Regulations as
classes 35 to 42 inclusive. The classes so specified
reflect the provisions of the International Classification
of Goods and Services issued under the Nice Agreement
Concerning the International Classification of Goods and
Services for the Purpose of the Registration of Marks of
15 June 1957, as revised at Stockholm on 14 July 1967 and
at Geneva on 13 May 1977. Of those classes of services,
classes 36 and 37 are of relevance to these proceedings.
Class 36 is "Insurance and financial services" and Class
37 "Construction and repair services".
On 1 February 1979 the respondent made two
applications under the amended provisions for registration
im Part A of the Register of Trade Marks. as the proprietor
of the word "Caterpillar™ in respect of services claimed
to fall within classes 36 and 37 respectively. Registration
was granted on 23 June 1980. The first of the marks
is numbered A327469. The certificate of registration
certifies that it is registered "in respect of Rental and
leasing services in this class in respect of machinery and
equipment, financing, financial services, financial
securities, financial transactions, insurance, insurance
agents, insurance brokers, insurers, investment, investment
trusts, hire purchase, financing of hire purchase, agents
and brokers for agricultural credit, agents and brokers
for credit from farming development, financing of credits
for wholesale dealers, arranging for time payment for
goods, capital investment, arranging credit, credit recovery
agents, advice and enquiries regarding credit, depositing
of securities and of stocks and shares, farming surveys,
financial guarantees, monetary transactions and associated
insurance and. financial services, being services included
in Class No. 36". The second of the marks is numbered
A327470 and is registered "in respect of Rental and leasing
services in this class in respect of machinery and equip-
ment including the hire of bulldozers and other earthmoving
machines, construction and repair services, including
maintenance: and repair of earth moving and other machinery,
maintenance work, care and repair of goods, engineering
construction being services incIuded in Class No. 37".
The: registration. of beth marks is for a period of seven
. years: from I February I97%.
So far as relevant, sub-section 36(1A) of the
Trades Marks Act 1955 provides: for the association of
trade marks where a trade mark which is the subject of an
application for registration.in respect of services is
substantially identical with another trade mark which is
registered in the name of the same proprietor in respect
of goods that are closely related to those services or
so nearly resembles sucha trade mark as to be likely to
deceive or cause confusion if used by a person other
than the proprietor. The Registrar of Trade Marks required
that each of the trade marks applied for by the respondent
in respect of services be entered in the Register as an
associated trade mark with trade marks A10993, A224505,
A226464 and 4318731.
Trade mark numbered Al10993 is registered in the
name of the respondent in Part A of the*Register of Trade
Marks "in respect of machinery; agricultural and horticultural
machinery, and parts of such machinery, included in Class No. 7".
The registration of that mark took effect from 13 April 1911
in respect of machinery and from 17 November 1911 in respect
of agricultural and horticultural machinery, and parts of
such machinery. Trade mark numbered A224505 is registered
in the name of the respondent in Part A of the Register
"in respect of vehicles and parts thereof and accessories
therefor and all other goods included in Class I2'.
-Certificates of registration in respect of the other
associated marks are not before the Court but it appears
that trade mark numbered A226464 is registered in respect
of "Games and playthings: toys including replicas of
motor vehicles, earth moving equipment and the Like"
within Class 12.
No question arises in these proceedings as to
the validity of the registration of trade marks numbered
4327469 and A327470. No argument was addressed to the
Supreme Court of South Australia or to this Court concerning
the extent of the services for which protection is given
to the respondent by such registration but it must be
said that the melange of expressions used, particularly
in the certificate of registration for trade mark numbered
A327469, does not facilitate clarity of understanding.
The matter proceeded on the basis that the appellant
company, in carrying on its business, is providing
services of such a kind that the respondent has in relation
to them the exclusive right to the use of the word
"Caterpillar".
The appellant company was incorporated in South
Australia on 2 November 1976. The individual appellants
_ ave its scle shareholders and directors. The appellant
company has at all material times carried on the business
of tring out at hourly rates earthmoving equipment of a
— "particular kind described as front end loaders, being
rubber tyred tractor type vehicles of various capacities
> or sizes: fitted with different types of buckets: The.
appellant company's business consists almost exclusively
of hiring out those vehicles with an operator employed
by the company. The evidence also establishes that a small
part of the appellant company's business consists in direct
contracting for the excavation and removal of sand or spoil
using for this: purpose the front end loaders which it owns
and trucks which it hires for the purpose. The evidence
further establishes that the only front end loaders which
the appellant company uses in its business are front end
loaders of the respondent's manufacture and which bear
the respondent's trade mark "Caterpillar".
It appears that the appellant company was
incorporated to take over a business of similar character
then carried on by the individual appellants in partnership.
That business had commenced in 1959 as a metal contracting
business under the business name M.A. & B.J. Willoughby.
The business changed its character so that by late 1974
its only activity consisted in hiring out front end loaders,
those loaders being in fact of the respondent's manufacture.
On 10 August 1974 the individual appellants applied for
and were granted, registration under the Business Names Act,
1963 of the State of South Australia of the business name
"Caterpillar Loader Hire Service", the nature of the business
being described as "Hire of front end loaders". On 27 Octo-
ber 1976 the individual appellants gave notice under the
Business Names Act, 1963 that on that date business ceased
to be carried on in South Australia under the business
name "Caterpillar Loader Hire Service".
Commencing in February 1976 correspondence
passed between the patent attorneys for the respondent and
the individual appellants or their solicitors concerning a
complaint by the respondent that the use by the individual
appellants of the business name "Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service" would be likely to lead to confusion.
In April 1976 the individual appellants took
company M.A. & B.J. Willoughby Pty. Limited, so far as
appears from the evidence, has not carried on business.
In June, 1977, following the institution of a
suit by the respondent in the Supreme Court of South Aus-
tralia, a suit which did not proceed, changes were made to
the letterheads, invoices and statements used by the
appellant company in its business by adding the word
"Willoughby's" before the words "Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service" which, together with the street and postal
addresses,telephone number and pictorial representations
of the types of machine used in the business, had appeared
on the letterheads, invoices and statements previously in
use. The signwriting on the vans used. in the appellant
company's. business. was also altered by having the additional
word. "Willoughby's"™ painted on.
The appellant company continued to carry on its
business. of hiring front end loaders of "Caterpillar"
manufacture without, so far as appears, further complaint
from the respondent until almost six months after the
respondent had been successful in obtaining registration
of trade marks numbered A327469 and A327470 in respect of
the services to which I have already referred. On 5
December 1980 the solicitors for the respondent gave
notice before action to the solicitors for the appellants.
Some two weeks later proceedings were commenced in the
Supreme Court of South Australia seeking an injunction
restraining the appellants from infringing the two trade
steps to register under the Business Names Act, 1963 the
business name "Willoughby's Earthmoving Hire Service"
but business was not carried on under that name and the
registration was not renewed when it lapsed in April 1979.
Following further correspondence between the
_ solicitors for the respondent and the solicitors for the
individual appellants, the latter arranged for an
advertisement to be inserted in "The Advertiser" newspaper
on 15 June 1976 to the effect that neither the individual
appellants nor the business "Caterpillar Loader Hire Service"
was in any way connected with the respondent.
L have. already referred to the notice given under
- the Business Names Act, 1963 to the effect that business
ceased to be carried om in South Australia by the individual
'appellants under the business name "Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service! om 27 October 1976 and to the incorporation of the
appellant 'company,. Caterpillar Loader Hire (Holdings) Pty.
Bimited, on 2 November 1976. During November 1976 that
company applied for, and was registered as the proprietor
of, a business name "Willoughby''s Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service", the nature of the business being described as
"Hirine-of Caterpillar Loaders". Shortly thereafter,
on 14 December 1976 another company M.A. & B.J. Willoughby
Pty. Limited was incorporated on the application of the
individual appellants. The sole shareholders and directors
of that company were the individual appellants and they each
held their shares in trust for the appellant company. The
marks referred to and for consequential relief. The
respondent relied on the continued use by the appellants
of the business name "Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader
Hire Service'' and the name "Caterpillar Loader Hire
(Holdings) Pty. Limited" in the business of hiring loaders
and servicing the same.
The respondent sought interlocutory relief but
this was refused by the Supreme Court of South Australia
and by this Court; Caterpillar Tractor Co. v. Caterpillar
Loader Hire (Holdings) Pty. Ltd. and Others, (1981)
28 S.A.S.R. 307; (1981) 38A.L.R. 394. At the trial,
however, the Supreme Court granted an injunction restrain-—
ing. the. appellants:- .
C2 from infringing the trade mark "Caterpillar™
registered. in. relation to, inter alia, rental
and leasing services im respect of machinery
- and equipment (being services. included in
Class 36) and in relation to : inter alia,
a rental and leasing services in respect of
-- 3): ."-maehinery and equipment including the hire
. - -of butldazers and. ather earth. moving machines
-_ being. services included in Class 37); and
(b) from carrying on business under the business
~ name of "Willoughby's Caterpillar Loader Hire
Service" or under any name including the word
"Caterpillar" calculated to induce the belief
that the business of the defendants (appellants)
is connected or associated or has any link with
the plaintiff's (respondent's) business relat-
ing to the rental leasing and hiring out of
machinery and equipment including earthmoving
machines.
The Supreme Court also made certain consequential orders.
From the decision of the Supreme Court the
appellants have appealed to this Court.
Tt
It 1s common ground that the appellant company
has used, and continues to use, the words "Willoughby's
Caterpillar Loader Hire Service" as a trade mark to
distinguish the services it provides from those of others
in a similar line of business. The appellants concede
that the word "Caterpillar" is used as an integral and
important feature of the mark used by the appellant company
but contend that that word in the composite expression is
not used in a relevant sense to designate the origin of
the services provided but is used merely to describe the
origin of the front-end loaders which it uses in its
business, it having no other such vehicles for hire than
those manufactured by the respondent and which bear the
trade mark "Caterpillar" registered by the respondent in
Class 7 in respect of such earth-moving machines. It
follows, so the argument runs, that there is no infringe-
ment. by the appellants of the respondent's service trade
marks either under section 58 or section 62 of the Act.
Sub-section 58(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1955
defines the right of property which the proprietor of
a trade mark possesses by virtue of its registration
in Part A or Part B of the Register. That right is
defined as the right to the exclusive use of the trade
mark in relation to the goods or services in respect of
which the trade mark is registered. Sub-section 62(1) adds
that a registered trade mark is infringed by a person who,
not being the registered proprietor or a registered user
using by way of permitted use, uses in the course of trade,
in relation to goods or services in respect of which the
trade mark is registered, a mark which is substantially
identical with or deceptively similar to the registered
trade mark. A mark will be treated as being deceptively
similar to a registered trade mark if it so nearly resembles
that trade mark as to be likely to deceive or cause con-
fusion.
Sub-section 58(1) will entitle a plaintiff
ta relief against infringement. of his registered trade mark
im certain cireumstances: see Mark Foy's Ltd. v. Davies
Coop. & Co. Ltd., (1956) 95 C.L.R. 190 at pp. 202, 204;
The Shell Co. of Australia Ltd. v. Esso Standard eit
. Gustratia). Led. ,. (1963) 09 C.L-R. 407 at pp. 414, 422-3,
Subject to the alleged. infringer bringing himself within
the protection of section 64, relief will be available
under sub-section 58(1) where the alleged infringer
has. used as 2 trade mark the exact words of the registered
trade mark without any. addition or variation. Differing views
have, however, been expressed whether sub-section 58(1)
applies when what the alleged infringer has done is use
as a trade mark the exact words of the registered trade
mark with some addition thereto: see Angoves Pty. Ltd.
v. Johnson, (1981) 28 S.A.S.R. 66 at pp. 70-72; (1982)
13.
43 A.L.R. 349 at pp. 351-2, 361-2, 367-371. On the view
which I take it is unnecessary to consider further these
differing views.
We have in this case to decide between two
contentions. Onthe one side it is submitted by counsel
for the respondent that the use of the term "Caterpillar"
in the business name used by the appellant company as a
trade mark is a use indicating to a person dealing with
the appellant company that the respondent is connected in
a relevant trade sense with the services provided; and
on the other it is submitted by counsel for the appellants
that the word "Caterpillar" would indicate to a person
dealing with the company no more than that the vehicles
which are hired out are vehicles of the respondent's
manufacture.
Im considering these contentions, it is of some
importance, I think, to examine the make up of the business
name which the appellant company has been using as a trade
mark for the services it provides. Visually the most
prominent feature of the mark is the word "Caterpillar"
itself. It forms the whole of the centre line of the mark
and appears in capital letters the width of each letter
(with the exception of the letter "I") being the same
as its height. There is to my mind, a very striking
similarity between the way in which the word "Caterpillar"
appears in the appellant company's mark and the way in
14.
which the respondent reproduces the word "Caterpillar"
when physically applying it to the goods of its manufacture
or in advertisements. In the appellant company's mark
the word "Willoughby's" appears in cursive script and,
although it contains the same number of letters as the
word "Caterpillar", it occupies but half the space of the
latter word. The words "Loader Hire" appear in capital
letters and although their height is greater than that of
the letters in "Caterpillar", their width is no greater.
The word "Service" appears in cursive script of larger
dimensions than that used for the word "Willoughby's".
This format is consistently used by the appellant company
on.its vans, its invoices, statements and other stationery
and. in advertisements.
The appellants relied strongly on the decision
of the House af Lords in Irving's Yeast Vite Ltd. v. Horsenail
(T¢34} SL EPC. 110 but the phrase which was the subject of
éfscusstor. im that case "Yeast Tablets a substitute for
*Yeast-Vite'" was. clearly not used as a trade mark. The
words "Yeast Tablets" were simply descriptive of what was
being sold - they'did not constitute and were not claimed
to constitute 2 mark or part of a mark distinctive of the
defendant's goods and, as the House of Lords held, the
expression "Yeast-Vite" was not used as in any way to
designate the defendant's goods - to the contrary it was
used to distinguish the defendant's goods from those of the
owner of the registered trade mark.
15.
The appellants have by their conduct indicated
a clear intention that the word "Caterpillar" should have
a prominent place in the name of the company providing the
services, in the business name under which it trades, on
its stationery and invoices, and in all advertising matter
promoting that business. One may ask why the appellants
should have such a fixed determination to continue to use the
word "Caterpillar" in such a prominent way. To my mind it is
oversimplifying the matter to say, as the appellants do, that -
the conduct complained of is designed solely for the purpose
of bringing to the notice of those dealing with the appellant
company that the vehicles which may be hired from the appellant
company are of the respondent's manufacture. In my opinion
the use of the word "Caterpillar" by the appellants is for
the purpose, and has the effect, of conveying to persons
dealing with the appellant company that the services pro-
vided have a connexion with the respondent as the registered
proprietor of the trade mark.
The appellants contend that the use of the mark
is no more an infringement of the respondent's rights than
would be the case if the business name were "Willoughby's
Loader Hire Service" and immediately under that in any
statement, invoice or letterhead or in any advertisement
the words appeared "Caterpillar loaders available". I am
unable to agree. It seems to me there is a vast difference
between this approach and what the appellant company has
done. In the approach above suggested the word "Caterpillar"
16.
would clearly not be used in a trade mark sense as
indicating a connexion between the services being provided
and the registered proprietor of the mark "Caterpillar".
The vice in the conduct of the appellant company is that
the mark used indicates some such connexion as is sufficient
to amount to an infringement of the service marks registered
in the name of the respondent.
Fer these reasons I am of the opinion that
infringement has taken place either under section 58 or
section 62 of the Act. For this infringement the respondent
is entitled to appropriate relief unless the appellants
cam bring themselves within the protection of section 64
of the Act.
Se far as relevant. for present purposes sectior
64. provides that, notwithstanding anything contained in
- the Act, the use.in good faith by a person of a description
of the character. or'quality of his services does not con-
stitute am infringement of a trade mark.
Im my opinion the appellants have not shown
that the use of the word "Caterpillar" is protected by
that provision. The word "Caterpillar", although it has
become very well known as a particular make of earth-moving
equipment, is not, in itself, descriptive of any class of
goods. In this context it is an adjectival not a substantive
word, One must add something to it in order to describe a
17.
particular vehicle or class of vehicle let alone the
services which are provided by the use of such a vehicle.
In so far as the word "Caterpillar" has come to be descrip-
tive, it is descriptive of the particular mode of traction -
vehicles which are sometimes described as crawler-track
type vehicles - but this is not the kind of equipment that
the appellant company uses in its business.
I would, therefore, dismiss the appeal. I agree
in the orders proposed.
I certife t>-+
"rtrd: 19 Tuly 1983 :J
Dees
18.
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