Select any passage to save a personal note with optional tags.
MINGUENT M5, 100; G2:
CATCHWORDS
Trade Practices Act ss. 52 and 53(c) and (d) ~ Passing off -
Claims for injunction and damages - Character merchandising -
Advertisement using name of well known television personality -
Defence that character in advertisement was intended to be
fictitious - Whether damages for passing off can be awarded where
the passing off was unintentional and not fraudulent ~ The effect
of persistence with knowledge in the passing off - Effect of
advertisement upon inattentive readers - Parkdale Custom Built
Furniture Proprietary Limited v. Puxu Proprietary Limited 149
C.L.R. 191 distinguished in respect of advertisements - Effect of
lack of evidence of persons actually deceived - Passing off where
the parties are engaged in quite different fields of activity but
there is a misrepresentation of endorsement - Injunction refused
since unintentional breaches had been discontinued well before
action notwithstanding section 80(4) of the Trade Practices Act -
Admissibility of opinion survey evidence = Whether hearsay -
Whether admissible as expert evidence - Whether admissible under
Business Records Provisions of Evidence Act - Rule of evidence
that a person's state of mind may be proved by statements he has
made - Measure of damages under the Trade Practices Act and for
passing off ~ Whether damages can be awarded for passing off on
the basis of the fee that would have been required for an
authorized use of the applicant's name.
Trade Practices Act 1974, ss.52, 53(c) and (d), 80(4)
SHOSHANA PTY LIMITED and SUE SMITH -V- lLOTH CANTANAE PTY LIMITED
& ORS.
NSW G.171 of 1985
Burchett J.
Sydney 4
16 June 1987 '
A
RECEIVED
~ 1MAR1968
FEDERAL COURT OF
AUSTRALIA
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IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY
GENERAL DIVISION
No. G.171 of 1985
eee
BETWEEN:
SHOSHANA PTY LIMITED
and SUE SMITH
Applicants
AND:
1OTH CANTANAE PTY
LIMITED
First Respondent
AND:
HEATHCLIFF GEORGE
TEAL
Second Respondent
AND:
CONCORD ADVERTISING
MARKETING PTY LIMITED
Third Respondent
MINUTE OF ORDER OF THE COURT
Judge Making Order: Burchett J.
Where Order Made: Sydney
Date of Order: 16 June 1987
THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
(1)
(2)
NOTE:
There be judgment in favour of the applicants against
each of the first, second and third respondents in the
sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000-00).
The first, second and third respondents pay the
applicants' costs of and incidental to the proceedings,
to be taxed 1f not agreed.
Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36
of the Federal Court Rules.
IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
GENERAL DIVISION
NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY No. G.171 of 1985
eee
BETWEEN:
SHOSHANA PTY LIMITED
and SUE SMITH
Applicants
»iw]
lOTH CANTANAE PTY
LIMITED
First Respondent
YGo
HEATHCLIFF GEORGE
TEAL
Second Respondent
>o
CONCORD ADVEPTISING
MARKETING PTY LIMITED
Third Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
BURCHETT J.
When Shakespeare, in Venus and Adonis, pictured the -
",... true-love in her naked bed,
Teaching the sheets a whiter hue than white,"
he was not advertising a washing powder, but, as it happens, his
language 1S remarkably evocative of a modern technique of
selling, by which a product 1s associated with a desirable
2.
personality, in whose reflected light it will appear more
pleasing. The technique is called character merchandising. One
form 1t takes (see Article on Character Merchandising by Jill
McKeough, 1984 U.N.S.W.L.J. 97 which discusses also another type
involving fictitious or cartoon characters) 1s the practice of
obtaining for a product the endorsement of an admired television
personality, or other celebrity, and it is out of this practice
that the present case arose.
The second applicant (whose corporate vehicle 1S the
first applicant) is widely known in New South Wales and elsewhere
in Australia as a prominent figure on national television
screens. She has appeared in numerous capacities since about
1970, particularly as interviewer and presenter for various news
and current affairs programmes, In consequence, like other
television performers, she has become the subject of comment,
news items, and articles in the press. Her achievements have
included being first woman to compere the well known "Mike Walsh
Show", telecast nationally throughout Australia (she was compere
intermittently between 1977 and 1981), and being the first woman
to appear as "front person" for the leading public affairs
programme "A Current Affair", also telecast nationally. In 1977
she won a Logie award for her performance as "front person" in "A
Current Affair"; in 1978 she won a Logie award as "Most Popular
Female Personality"; and in 1983 she shared with Ross Symonds the
award of the Association for Better Hearing.
It was readily conceded by Mr. Robert Abbott, the
Managing director of the third respondent, who gave evidence on
3.
behalf of the respondents, that Sue Smith "has had extensive
exposure in the media for many years." In the light of that
exposure, he agreed that "she had a name which had a commercial
value to advertisers", and that "the value of that name was not
confined to advertising in New South Wales, but extended to
advertising around Australia." Mr. Abbott had had experience in
obtaining the services of well known personalities to appear in
advertisements, having worked in the advertising industry since
1970.
I am satisfied that in 1983 the name Sue Smith was
extremely well known throughout Australia as the name of a
popular television personality, particularly admired for the
clarity of her presentation of information. I am assisted un
understanding the evidence concerning her last mentioned
attribute by having heard and observed her in the witness box. I
am satisfied of these matters quite apart from certain survey
evidence to which I shall refer.
The evidence also satisfies me that persons in Sue
Smith's position are, according to modern advertising practice,
in significant demand for their endorsement of various products
which are commonly sold by character merchandising. In
particular, these products include television and video
equipment. A theatrical agent representing a large and varied
clientele, including many celebrated names, gave evidence that
"over half my work concerns the negotiation of fees for
television commercials and press advertisements for actors and
personalities whom I or my agency represent." He also gave
4.
evidence that at the present time "there 1s widespread
advertising over the public media, especially over commercial
television in Australia, of video products, with a consequent use
of and demand for actors and personalities to present or endorse
those products." It 18 clear that Miss Smith stood high 1n the
category of persons suitable to be employed in this kind of work.
A feature of the technique of character merchandising,
appreciation of which is essential to an understanding of the
import of the events to be related, is that the advertiser uses
the public image of the personality concerned to develop in the
minds of consumers an identification of the product with that
personality. As a result, Sue Smith's endorsement of a
particular product is likely in practice to preclude her
obtaining a contract to endorse a competing product.
Until at least the beginning of the year 1983, Sue Smith
had not regarded herself as free of restrictions upon her right
to engage in advertising campaigns. This was because of the
value, to the television network which telecast her programmes in
the area of current affairs and news, of an appearance of
disinterested objectivity. Until 9 January 1983, she was bound
by a contractual term guaranteeing the performance by the first
applicant of its agreement to ensure that she should not "appear
or perform in or lend her name to any commercial advertisement...
without the consent of the Company's Director of News which such
consent shall not be unreasonably withheld" (the company referred
to was the licensee of Sydney commercial television station 19).
There was some argument about the precise effect of this term,
5.
but there was no dispute between the parties that both Miss
Smith, and the management of the television station in question,
took the view that advertising of the kind to which I have
referred would generally be inimical to her career while she
continued to take a prominent part in news and current affairs
programmes. However that situation changed at some time after 9
January 1983.
Between 5 May 1983 and 30 June 1983 identical, or
virtually identical, advertisements appeared in the journals The
Bulletin (twice), Video Age (twice), Video and Communication
(once), and Australian Business (twice). In each case, the
advertisement was a prominent one extending horizontally across
two pages of the journal, and taking up about half of each of
those pages. Across the top in very heavy print were the words:
"Sue Smith just took total control of her
video recorder."
Those words formed the caption to a picture of a young woman
sitting up in bed nursing a cat and watching a television set
eguipped with a video recorder. On the screen of the television
set appears the face and shoulders of a female performer, and
close to the viewer's hand 1s a remote control device. The third
prominent feature of the advertisement, after the caption and the
picture to which I have referred, 1s at the bottom right-hand
corner of the advertisement, where there is a separate picture of
the video recorder (with its remote control device) identifted in
heavy print as a "BLAUPUNKT by BOSCH Total Control Video". There
1s also in ordinary print at the bottom of the advertisement a
message as follows:
"The movie 1s spine chilling. The video
recorder 1s the front-loading Blaupunkt 322.
Even while frozen with fright, Sue can turn
the movie on and off, play it in slow motion,
even watch it backwards. She can see the
movie one frame at a time in crystal
detail... The secret is Blaupunkt's 24
function remote control. It gives Sue total
control... Sue also has control of what she
wants to watch for up to two weeks ahead.
So while Sue may always be a slave to her
emotions she'll never again be a slave to her
TV."
Neither of the two females pictured appears actually to
be the second applicant, though both are brunettes as 1S Sue
Smith. One of the theatrical agent witnesses gave the following
answer 1n cross-examination:
"Well I thought the lady on the left holding
the cat may not be Sue Smith; the lady on the
television could be Sue Smith."
The lady holding a cat appears younger than Sue Smith,
but both the pictured ladies seem to me to bear some resemblance
to her such as might lead a casual reader of the advertisement,
or a person not very familiar with Sue Smith's appearance but
having a general recollection of 1t, to suppose that Sue Smith 1s
pictured. As the answer I have quoted indicates, the performer
pictured on the television screen could be Miss Smith, even to
the eye of a more attentive reader with a fairly good
recollection of her appearance, but 1f such a person read the
small print as well as the caption with attention, he would see
that the advertisement attributes the name Sue Smith to the other
female pictured.
Of course, the advertisement would convey at a glance a
good impression about the Blaupunkt video (as no doubt was
intended), and that impression would be likely to be enhanced by
an association of 1t with Sue Smith.
Neither Shoshana Pty Limited (as the company through
which Sue Smith enters into contractual arrangements in the
pursuit of her profession), nor Sue Smith herself, had been asked
to give permission to enable these advertisements to appear.
They were brought to her attention as a result of their being
seen by the general manager of Channel 10, George Brown, who made
1t clear that he regarded them as cause for concern, and by
certain radio personalities. Mr. Brown gave evidence before me,
from which it plainly appeared that he had associated the
advertisement with Miss Smith, and had made enquiries to satisfy
himself that she had not lent her name to 1t voluntarily. Had he
found that she had done so, and had she persisted in it, he would
have had her "taken out of front line news reading". There was
no challenge to the proposition that this was the television
station's attitude towards the advertisement, but it was put, and
Mr. Brown agreed, that the advertisement did not picture Sue
Smith. Mr. Brown said: "It was the headline which was the grab,"
referring to the words: "Sue Smith just took control of her
video recorder."
Her attention having been drawn to the advertisement,
Sue Smith wrote a letter dated 30 May 1983 addressed to the
distributor named in it (a business name under which the first
8.
respondent trades), containing the following statements:
"Your company's conduct in using my name
without consent constitutes misleading and
deceptive conduct within Section 52 of the
Trade Practices Act 1974 and a false
representation within Section 53(c) and (d)
of that Act. In addition, it constitutes
passing off of the video cassette recorder
sold by your company as being approved or
endorsed by me, and similarly passing off
your company as having my endorsement."
The letter concludes with a request that undertakings including
an undertaking to withdraw the advertisement from all future
editions and publications be given by 10 June 1983, and with a
threat of legal proceedings. Having had no response, Sue Smith
placed the matter in the hands of her solicitor, who on 14 June
1983 wrote threatening an injunction unless he received an
immediate undertaking to cease further publication. He also made
a number of telephone calls to the second respondent and
solicitors acting for the respondents, without securing any
withdrawal of, or any promise to withdraw, the advertisement.
Finally, on 29 June 1983, solicitors for the third respondent
replied, by telephone and in writing, denying that "it could be
conceived by the public that the said advertisement refers to
your client", but stating that the advertisement had been changed
except in relation to two publications which had aJjJready been
printed. The change referred to was from the name "Sue Smith" to
"Sarah Smith" in the wording of the advertisement.
The respondents do not dispute responsibility for the
advertisement. It was inserted by the third respondent as agent
for the first and second respondents. Its language was composed
9.
by a Mr. Trinidad James at the request of a director of the third
respondent. Mr. Trinidad James gave evidence that he did not
intend the name "Sue Smith" to be understood as referring to a
real person. But he did not think the advertisement would work
in the same way (in fact it might be thought rather flat) if the
girl depicted in it had no name, just as the characters 1n a
novel or movie should not be nameless. His point may be
1llustrated from the famous llth century literature of Japan,
including the Tale of Genji itself, in which conventionally many
characters had no names, but have had to receive them from
translators and commentators because of the stiltedness the
ancient Japanese convention produces. The respondents claim that
Sue Smith's name was used in ignorance by Victorian advertising
agents who were unaware of her existence. Extraordinary though
1t may seem that a practitioner in this field could fail to know
a name which over a number of years had regularly appeared on
national television screens, the bona fides of the assertion 1s
not contested.
But innocence of intent does not deny liability under
sections 52 and 53 of the Trade Practices Act (see Parkdale
Custom Built Furniture Proprietary Limited v. Puxu Proprietary
Limited (1982) 149 C.L.R. 191 at 197; Hornsby Building
Information Centre Proprietary Limited v. Sydney Building
Information Centre Limited (1978) 140 C.L.R. 216), nor does it
deny passing off (see B.M. Auto Sales Pty Ltd v. Budget Rent A
Car System Pty Ltd (1976) 51 A.L.J.R. 254 at 258; Draper v. Trist
{1939} 3 All E.R. 513 at 517; Stringfellow v. McCain Foods (GB)
Limited (1984) 3 I.P.R. 71 at 81-2: Ricketson on The Law of
Intellectual Property (1984) 562, 572-3).
10.
There 1s an argument, which 1s discussed in Ricketson
Op. cit. 581-2, that the remedy of damages, other than nominal
damages, should not be awarded for passing off, as distinct from
breaches of sections 52 and 53, in respect of passing off which
is not deliberate. However counsel did not urge this view upon
me, though he did contend that only a moderate award could be
justified in such a case. I note that Greene M.R. expressed in
Draper v. Trist (supra at 517) the view that damages could be
awarded. See also Kerly's Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names,
llth ed. (1983) 399, where the same opinion 18S expressed.
Damages were awarded for an unintentional passing off (by the use
of a name implying an endorsement of a product) in Stringfellow
v. McCain Foods (GB) Limited (1984) 10 F.S.R. 175 (see 183-4 and
197-8), though the decision was reversed on appeal upon the facts
(supra). In the Budget Rent A Car case Gibbs J. (with whom
Barwick C.J. and Murphy J. were in agreement) at 258 stated:
"It 1S unnecessary to consider whether proof
of fraud was necessary to support' the
recovery of nominal damages. eee The
evidence in the present case left no doubt
that the appellants persisted in the use of
the name with full knowledge that 1t had
become distinctive of the respondent's
business and that the use of the name was
calculated to deceive."
I do not think any inference can be drawn (though Ricketson op.
cit. 582 suggests otherwise) from the use of the word "nominal"
in this passage, since at the hearing of that case, apart from
the injunction which was the real subject of the appeal, only
nominal damages had been sought and awarded (see page 255). But
what 18 important to note is the emphasis placed upon persistence
(with knowledge) in the passing off. In the present case, the
ll.
advertisement was published after notice on several occasions,
and indeed no reply at all was vouchsafed to Miss Smith's
Original complaint.
The possibility that publication of fictitious material,
which includes by chance the name of an actual person, may incur
liability 1s not at all novel in the law. A famous example 1s E.
Hulton & Co. v. Jones [1910] A.C. 20, affirming Jones v. E.
Hulton & Co. [1909] 2 K.B. 444, where the publisher of a
fictitious account of the flirtations of one Artemus Jones while
on holiday in Dieppe was held liable in defamation to the real
Artemus Jones, of whom the author claimed never to have heard.
But Artemus Jones, though like Miss Smith he had a
common surname, had a most distinctive first name. In the
present case, the respondents say that the name Sue Smith 1s too
common to permit a reader of the advertisement to identify 1¢€
with the name of the second applicant. At the same time, it is
said that the viewers of Miss Smith's programmes would realize
that the Sue Smith pictured un the advertisement must be someone
else. I think this argument fails to recognize sufficiently the
weight of a widespread reputation, and inappropriately focuses
upon only the attentive reader of the advertisement. In my
Opinion, there would be likely to be many readers who would
associate an advertisement concerned with television, and
Picturing an attractive brunette, with the well known television
image of Sue Smith, without subjecting the advertisement to the
kind of analysis that might introduce doubt. Such a reader might
well be led to believe that Sue Smith was endorsing the Blaupunkt
12.
video. The prevalence, on the evidence, of the practice of
sponsorship of products by celebrities (cf. Stringfellow's case
(supra, at 10 F.S.R. 196) where the practice was described as "a
commonplace of today", and see also I.P.C. Magazines Limited v.
Black and White Music Corporation (1983) 9 F.S.R. 348 at 352)
assists me to conclude that this advertisement was likely to, and
probably did, mislead many readers in this way.
I do not think sections 52 and 53 should be read as
excluding readers of the kind I have mentioned from consideration
as not being "reasonable members of the class" of consumers
affected by the respondents' conduct (see Parkdale Furniture case
at 199). There is a great difference between the publishing of an
advertisement in a form likely to be deceptive to a casual reader
(who must be one of the classes of readers in contemplation), and
the display of a relatively expensive item of furniture ina
showroom where its label can readily be examined, and where no
untending purchaser would be in contemplation who would behave so
unusually as to assume the identity of the manufacturer without
bothering to read the label before his eyes. (In the Parkdale
Furniture case, 1t is true, there was evidence the label had been
removed on some occasions, but that does not affect the point
because the High Court held the manufacturer was not responsible
for what had occurred on those occasions.) In my opinion, the
respondents cannot properly claim that their advertisement is
aimed only at readers who would not be deceived. It is of the
nature of glossy advertisements of this sort that they create an
impression; analysis is not expected. They will not be studied
like text books, nor are they only for the eyes of the
13.
discerning. There 1s also no warrant for limiting the effect of
the advertisement to those persons who can clearly discriminate
between Sue Smith's photograph and the photograph of some model
generally resembling her. Readers must include many people who
could not recognize that she 1s not pictured but, by reason of
the wide publicity given to her name in the press and on the
television screen, would immediately associate that name with Sue
Smith the well known television personality.
To suggest that such a view would impermissibly equate
confusion or the effects of a consumer's own error with deception
(see McWilliam's Wines Pty Ltd v. McDonald's System of Australia
Pty Ltd (1980) 49 F.L.R. 455; Parkdale Furniture case, supra at
203, 225) is not, 1n my opinion, correct. The cases cited do
not, aS was pointed out in Taco Company of Australia Inc. v. Taco
Bell Pty Ltd (1982) 42 A.L.R. 177 at 201 et seq., establish "a
necessary dichotomy between 'confusion' on the one hand and
'misleading or deception' on the other." Deception commonly
feeds on error and confusion. Where a corporation's conduct has
caused confusion, 1t may be a short step, though necessary before
liability can be found under s.52, to conclude that 1t has also
been "misleading or deceptive or 1s likely to mislead or
deceive": Bridge Stockbrokers Ltd v. Bridges (1984) 57 A.L.R.
40l.
In the McDonald's case, an erroneous preconception
caused error, and therefore the impugned conduct could not be
held the cause of deception. By contrast, in the present case
deception is struck by the advertisement out of a correct public
14.
understanding that television personalities use the images
conveyed by their well known and admired names for commercial
gain by endorsing products.
The respondents then point to the fact that there is
another Sue Smith, Suzanne Roguet Smith, a journalist known as
Sue Smith who writes in the area of home furnishing and
renovation in a number of Melbourne journals. I think counsel
for the applicants is correct in his contention that this 1s an
1rrelevancy. It could not be suggested on the evidence that
Suzanne Roquet Smith has any reputation associated with the
television industry, or that consumers would be likely to
identify her, instead of or in addition to the second applicant,
with the Sue Smith in the advertisement. Her existence does not
dilute the right of the applicant Sue Smith, in respect of the
use made of her name, into something less than sufficient to
Maintain this action.
Nor does 1t matter that, as the respondents urged, both
"Sue" and "Smith" are common names. The same 1s true of "Dick"
and "Smith". But when these pairs of names are put together they
identify easily recognized individuals. I do not think either
the name "Sue Smith" or the name "Dick Smith" would ordinarily be
understood, in the context of the advertisement in question, as
standing for every man or every woman. Perhaps, though I doubt
it, a different impression would have been conveyed by the name
"Eve Smith". The respondents' argument that the advertisement
should be read in a symbolic sense excluding any reference to the
applicant Sue Smith cannot be sustained.
15.
Then it was put that no evidence had been called from
any person who was misled by the advertisement. I leave aside
the question whether the evidence of Mr. Brown, the General
Manager of Channel 10, does not answer this description by
indicating that he took the advertisement to be an endorsement by
Sue Smith of the Blaupunkt video, demanding investigation of
whether she had authorized the claim of that endorsement to be
made. The more direct answer to the submission is that 1t 1s for
the Court to determine whether the conduct of the respondents has
the character alleged, and no evidence need be called from any
individual deceived: McDonald's case (supra, at 460-1 and
476-7); Lego Australia Pty Ltd v. Paul's (Merchants) Pty Ltd
(1982) 42 A.L.R. 344 at 347, 351.
I find that the publication of the advertisement
contravened section 52 of the Trade Practices Act, and that it
also represented that the Blaupunkt video had the sponsorship and
approval of Sue Smith which 1t did not have, and that the first
named respondent had her sponsorship and approval which it did
not have (see section 53(c) and (d)). It was accepted that
instructions in respect of the advertisement were given by the
second respondent, and no argument was put that 1f I reached
these conclusions I should not also find him liable pursuant to
sections 75B and 82 as a "person involved in the contravention".
Although "the operation of s. 52 is not restricted by
the common law principles relating to passing off", and "the
section provides the public with wider protection from decestion
16.
than the common law" (per Mason J. in the Parkdale Custom Built
Furniture case, supra, at 205), there 1s in cases of this kind,
as Wilcox J. pointed out in Hutchence v. South Seas Bubble Co.
Pty Ltd (1986) 64 A.L.R. 330 at 339 "considerable overlap between
claims under ss. 52 and 53(c) and the common law claim of passing
off." Wilcox J. went on to point out that claims for passing off
have succeeded where there has been a use of the plaintiff's name
even in respect of a totally different tyoe of product. He cited
Lego System Aktieselskab v. Lego M Lemelstrich Ltd (1983) 9
F.S.R. 155 and Radio Corporation Proprietary Limited v. Disney
(1937) 57 C.L.R. 448. In an article "Reaping Without Sowing:
Unfair Competition and Intellectual Property Rights in
Anglo-Australian Law" by S. Ricketson (1984 U.N.S.W.L.J. 1 at
19-22), a number of authorities are cited for the provosition
that, to establish passing off, "any representation that the
Plaintiff 1s ain some way associated with the defendant's
business, whether by way of partnership, sponsorship or
licensing, will suffice." It is pointed out that where the
parties are in different fields of activity damage may still be
suffered in respect of the plaintiff's good will - as for example
where the plaintiff would otherwise have sold his endorsement for
reward, so that a defendant acting without authority "has
deprived the plaintiff of an opportunity of exploiting the
valuable reputation which he has built up." (A quite different,
but telling, example is afforded by Stringfellow's case (supra).)
In the often cited case Henderson v. Radio Corporation
Pty Ltd (1960) S.R.(NSW) 576 at 603 Manning J. referred to the
ability of a person, such as a well known actress or sporting
17.
figure, to earn a fee for a recommendation "to an almost infinite
variety of commodities". He said:
"I can see no distinction in any such cases
provided (as has been established in this
case) that the activity of the party
concerned has resulted in their
recommendation becoming a saleable
commodity."
In their joint judgment, Evatt C.J. and Myers J. state at 592:
"If deception and damages are proved, 1t 1s
not easy to see the justification for
introducing another factor as a condition of
the Court's power to intervene."
They held that the wrongful appropriation of the names and
reputation of the plaintiffs, who were well known ballroom
dancers, by the publication of their photograph without their
permission on a record jacket, was in itself an injury. At 595
they said:
"The professional recommendation of the
respondents was and still is theirs, to
withhold or bestow at will, but the appellant
has wrongfully deprived them of their right
to do so and of the payment or reward on
which, if they had been minded to give their
approval to the appellant's record, they
could have insisted."
A similar view was taken in Childrens Television
Workshop Inc. v. Woolworths (NSW) Ltd [1981] 1 N.S.W.L.R. 273 and
in Nostac Enterprises Pty Ltd v. New Concept Import Services Pty
Ltd (1981) 3 A.T.P.R. 43,133 at 43,137-8 (though in that case
relief was granted under section 52 of the Trade Practices Act).
With these cases may be contrasted Newton-John v. Scholl-Plough
18.
(Australia) Ltd (1986) 11 F.C.R. 233 and Sitmar Cruises Ltd v.
Carnival Cruise Lines Inc. (1986) A.T.P.R. 47,942, where no
misrepresentation was involved, and as a consequence neither a
breach of section 52 nor a passing off was established.
In the present case, in my opinion, liability is
established for passing off, as well as under the Trade Practices
Act, in accordance with the principles to which I have referred.
The first relief which the applicants seek 1s an
injunction, However, the respondents' conduct, which was not
intentional in the first place, was discontinued within a
relatively short time (though not remarkably promptly) after the
second applicant's initial complaint had been reinforced by a
solicitor's demand. An appropriate change was made in the
wording of the advertisement, and 1t 1S not suggested that there
has since been any actual or threatened resumption of the
original advertisement. The present proceeding was not commenced
until some two years later. In these circumstances, I do not
think it 1s appropriate to grant an injunction, notwithstanding
that section 80(4) of the Trade Practices Act empowers the Court
to do so should it see fit.
I come to the question of damages. On this issue,
evidence was tendered of the very substantial fees paid for Sue
Smith's endorsement of "Pears" brand products over the past two
years. Expert evidence was led the effect of which was that the
appropriate fee for a series over three to s1x months of
advertisements of the kind involved in this case, had they neen
19.
authorized, would have been between $20,000 and $25,000 (or up to
$5,000 per insertion 1f individual advertisements only were
negotiated), but that Sue Smith and other comparable television
personalities would have been generally reluctant to enter into a
contract unless a longer period of advertising, and hence higher
fees, had been involved. A reason for this reluctance 1s the
likelihood that the endorsement of a particular video would
preclude the obtaining of any other contracts to endorse similar
products, which generally command the highest endorsement fees.
For the respondents, as I have said, it was conceded
that Sue Smith had a name which had a commercial value to
advertisers extending to advertising around Australia, but
evidence was tendered that the cost of the name of a well known
personality to sponsor such a series of advertisements as that
involved would have been in 1983 between $1,500 and $2,500. I do
not accept this evidence. I prefer the evidence of the experts
called by the applicants, confirmed as it is in some degree by
the actuality of the very large fees the name of Sue Smith has
been able to command in respect of the "Pears" advertisements.
While it is true that those advertisements involve much more on
her part, I accept the proposition that no comparable performer
would be likely to accept fees anything like those suggested by
the respondents for a contract which might well shut the door on
future lucrative opportunities.
In addition to the expert and other evidence to which I
have referred, evidence was also tendered by the applicants
through a Mr. Vohralik of the ratings achieved by Sue Smith, over
20.
a period of years, according to regular surveys of television
personalities carried out by Audience Studies Inc. Australia Pty
Limited. That company numbers amongst its clients television
stations, radio stations, production organizations, and leading
advertising agencies, as well as large corporations which
frequently engage in advertising campaigns. Mr. Vohralik is the
Managing Director of Audience Studies Inc. Australia Pty Limited,
and I am satisfied that he is qualified to give expert evidence
on the subject of surveys to determine audience reaction to
particular television personalities. The techniques he employs
for this purpose are also used in centres such as Tokyo and Los
Angeles. They involve careful controls to ensure the
representativeness of the sample audiences used. The surveys are
extensively utilized by television stations and advertisers as
the basis of decisions concerning the employment of particular
personalities. They have been so used since 1971.
The company's surveys of female television personalities
showed Sue Smith ranking highly in the late 1970s and early
1980s, though in June 1983 a drop was recorded from her September
1982 ranking in the top quintile of female performers to
fractionally below the average of female television personalities
surveyed.
Objection was taken to the admissibility of these survey
results. It was said the answers of persons interviewed in such
a survey are mere hearsay, inadmissible without the calling of
the persons who gave the answers. It was further submitted that
in the present case hearsay is piled on hearsay because the
21.
interviewers also were not called. As to the latter point, the
applicants relied on the business records provisions of the
Evidence Act 1905 to establish that the answers had been given.
The applicants also relied on the proposition that Mr. Vohralik's
evidence was expert evidence and that his opinion was admissible
notwithstanding that he had utilized material which included
hearsay. But the applicants' primary argument was that the
response of a person interviewed was a statement indicating the
state of his mind, admissible as such and not to prove the truth
of any opinion held by him. These questions touch upon a very
live controversy in the law: see article by James Farmer on The
Admissibility of Survey Evidence in Intellectual Property Cases
1984 U.N.S.W.L.J. 57; Ricketson on The Law of Intellectual
Property (1984) 561; and cf. Phipson on Evidence, 13th ed.,
553-4, and Cross on Evidence, 3rd Australian ed., 724-5.
It is convenient to dispose first of the question under
the Evidence Act. If evidence from those who interviewed the
members of the audiences surveyed concerning the answers given to
them in respect of the questions asked in the surveys would have
been admissible, I think the records of the business of Audience
Studies Inc. Australia Pty Limited reproducing those answers in
statistical tables, or derived from those answers by statistical
procedures, are admissible under section 7B of the Evidence Act.
On the stated assumption, they would be statements, as defined in
section 7A, of facts (which include by section 7B(3) opinions) in
documents, as defined in section 7A, forming part of a record of
a business made in the course of the business (and also for its
purposes) reproducing or derived from (by section 7A(1) "derived"
22.
includes derived by statistical procedures) information in
statements made by qualified persons (as defined in section 7A,
being agents employed or engaged in the business who had or may
reasonably be supposed to have had personal knowledge of the
facts stated, that is of the statements expressing their state of
mind made by the persons interviewed in the surveys), in the
course of, or for the purposes of, the business. By section
7B(2) a statement admissible under section 7B(1) 1s so admissible
notwithstanding the rules against hearsay and the rules against
secondary evidence of the contents. of a document, and
notwithstanding that the statement is in such a form that it
would not be admissible if given as oral testimony, but a
statement is not made admissible which 1s inadmissible for
reasons other than those set out in subsection (2). Among the
other sections relating to business records, sections 7F, 7H, and
7J should also be noted.
But would the evidence of persons who carried out an
Opinion survey, or of experts basing themselves upon such a
survey, be admissible, and 1f admissible would evidence of that
kind carry weight? On a number of occasions, such evidence has
been rejected or criticised. In Stringfellow's case (supra at
184-5) Whitford J. said:
"I confess that my experience in the past so
far as public opinion surveys in proceedings
of this kind are concerned has not been a
happy one and this case has been = no
exception. I do not say that the day may not
come when I shall find such a survey or such
surveys of value; I say only that it has not
come yet."
23.
He criticised the forms of questions and their seauence as
possibly influencing the answers, but accepted that particular
questions were "of a nature such that the answers given might be
considered as being reasonably reliable". He concluded that "the
significance of this evidence is that, to my mind, 1t undoubtedly
reinforces the other evidence as to the plaintiffs' reputation
«se «" I should mention that the evidence admitted by Whitford
J. was apparently admitted by consent, but at the same time I
note that Phipson on Evidence, ubi supra, and several authorities
to which I shall refer make 1t clear that evidence of this kind
has frequently been received in England and in other
jurisdictions.
A detailed examination of the admissibility and weight
of market research surveys was made by Mahon J. in Customglass
Boats Ltd. v. Salthouse Brothers Ltd. [1976] R.P.C. 589; [1976] 1
N.Z.L.R. 36. The question at issue in a passing off sult was
whether the name "Cavalier" had become by user distinctive of the
plaintiff's yachts in the minds of the relevant section of the
public. In deciding that question Mahon J. considered scientific
market research survey evidence. Although the opposing counsel
contented himself with attacking the weight of the evidence,
Mahon J. in fact considered its admissibility as well. Mahon J.
referred to American and English authority permitting the use of
public opinion survey evidence. At 595 (N.Z.L.R. 41) he
commented:
"The unsworn persons responding to a
questionnaire and the anonymous customers who
order or inquire about goods are all people
making statements out of Court to a witness
called in the proceedings, and although the
24.
basis of admissibility does not appear to be
overtly founded upon anything except
established practice and procedure under the
trademark and patent legislation, I can for
myself see no objection to the classification
of such evidence either as proving a public
state of mind on a specific question, which
is an acknowledged exception to the hearsay
rule, or as proving an external fact, namely,
that a designated opinion is held by the
public or a class of the public, this not
being a matter of hearsay at all. eee
There are obvious' difficulties in the
acceptance of testimony which purports to
convey to the appropriate legal tribunal a
number of individual assertions or opinions
uttered in relation to the subject matter of
the inquiry by persons not called as
witnesses and, therefore, not subject to
cross-examination, but the considerations
which I have mentioned lead me to. the
conclusion that the result of a market
research survey 1s admissible in this class
of case to prove a fact in issue, whether it
be reputation or likelihood of confusion or
deception, even though the persons responding
to the form of questions are not called as
witnesses. The weight of such evidence,
which was the basis of Mr. Gault's objection
in this case as opposed to technical
admissibility, will depend upon the
circumstances. ... A properly drawn market
research questionnaire, carefully framed so
as to elicit opinions or beliefs held by
persons adequately informed, can only reveal
in my opinion the existence or otherwise ina
defined proportion of the persons
interviewed, of the relevant opinion or
belief, and I do not think 1t can be right in
cases involving trademark infringement or
passing off where evidence of reputation is
relevant, and especially in a passing off
action where affidavit evidence 1s not
receivable, to compel a party to produce in
the Courtroom an interminable parade of
witnesses to depose individually as to their
knowledge and understanding of the trade
association involved in a particular
trademark or design, so long as there are
followed the cautionary procedures [Mahon J.
referred to survey procedures recommended as
appropriate]. The evidence obtained by
research survey is in my view legitimate
proof of the fact the opinions obtained had
in fact existed, whether rightly held or not,
and on that view of the matter 1t is my
opinion that such evidence 1s not hearsay at
25.
all and that, even if 1t did fall within the
technical concept of hearsay or representing
a collation of individual statements made out
of Court, then the evidence would still be
admissible by way of exception to the hearsay
rule because it exhibits the existence of a
state of mind shared in common by a
designated class of persons. In the present
case the method and procedure of taking this
research survey has already been described
and I am satisfied that those methods and
procedure were not only adequate but
exemplary, and that the results thus obtained
are admissible in evidence as proving the
reputation of the name in guestion in
relation to the manufacturer and the designer
and the place of origin as held by persons
properly informed on the general subject
matter of the relevant enguiry."
The Customglass Boats case was not followed by Franki J.
in McDonald's System of Australia Pty Ltd v. McWilliam's Wines
Pty Ltd (1979) 28 A.L.R. 236 at 251 et seq. I note however that
at 253 Frankl J. sald:
"No extensive examination of the United
Kingdom or Australian cases [his Honour was
referring to cases dealing with the question
whether opinions expressed by respondents to
a survey were hearsay] was made before me."
At 254 his Honour seems to me to have indicated some doubt about
the proposition, for which Phipson on Evidence had been cited to
him, that "whenever the opinion of a person is material to be
proved his statements indicative thereof made at or about the
time in question may be given in evidence", and about the
application of that statement if 1t were correct. From this
point of view, it is relevant to observe that the statement in
question is repeated in section 7-34 at page 92 of the later 13th
edition of Phipson on Evidence, and that in Dobson v. Morris,
which was decided in 1975 but not reported until 1986 in 4
26.
N.S.W.L.R. 681, and was not referred to in the McDonald's case,
the Court of Appeal Division of the Supreme Court of New South
Wales, following authorities relied on by Phipson and contrary to
the view of Cross (see discussion in Phipson, op. cit., 93-4 and
cf. Cross, op. cit. 1000), held that "evidence of an extra curial
statement of existing intention is admissible to prove its
existence ... not (as) hearsay but ... as direct evidence" (per
Reynolds J.A. at 681); and "where it 1s relevant to prove the
untentions of a person, declarations by him as to his state of
mind are admissible in evidence ... . It 18 ... immaterial
whether or not the declaration was contemporaneous with some
conduct for which 1t provides an explanation. Whether the
intention proved by the declaration to subsist at one point of
time has been shown to continue or relate back to a later or
earlier time 1s governed by ordinary rules of evidence." (Per
Glass J.A. at 683).
The view adopted in Dobson v. Morris was also taken in
Concrete Constructions Pty Limited v. The Plumbers and Gasfitters
Employees' Union of Australia (1987) A.T.P.R. 40-775, where
evidence of statements made by employees of personal willingness
to return to work, and of their belief that their union
constrained them from doing so, was admitted over objection that
the evidence was hearsay. At p. 48,473 Wilcox J. said:
"I considered that the evidence was admissible
as proof of the readiness of the respondent
employee to work and as proof of his opinion
that he was constrained by union policy not
to do so. The relevant principle 1s stated
in Phipson on Evidence (13th ed.) at para.
7.34 1n these words:
"Whenever the physical condition,
emotions, opinions and state of
27.
mind of a person are material to be
proved, his statements indicative
thereof made at or about the time
ln question may be- given in
evidence.'
As the following discussion in Phipson makes
Plain there has been controversy as to
whether this principle operates as an
exception to the hearsay rule; as to which
see also Dobson v. Morris and Anor. (1986) 4
N.S.W.L.R. 681. However, it is now
authoritatively established that such
evidence is not hearsay; but primary evidence
of the person's condition etc."
Recent English authority is strongly supportive of the
view taken by Mahon J. in the Customglass Boats case. In Lego
System Aktieselskab v. Lego M Lemelstrich Ltd (1983) 9 F.S.R. 155
at 173 et seq. Falconer J. considered a submission that answers
in questionnaires utilized in a market research survey were
hearsay. After a detailed analysis of the GE Trademark case
[1969] R.P.C. 418 (at first instance); [1970] R.P.C. 339 (Court
of Appeal); and [1973] R.P.C. 297 (House of Lords), he said at
176:
"The GE case is in my judgment sufficient
authority that such expert evidence based on
the results of a survey carried out ona
representative sample of the relevant public
On accepted market research principles is
admissible, although, no doubt, the value of
the evidence will be subject to any criticism
which may properly be made as to such matters
as the representative value of the sample,
the form of the questions and the manner in
which the survey has actually been carried
out."
He went on to discuss the Customglass Boats case, and concluded
at 178-9:
"I respectfully agree with the view expressed
by Mahon J. ... that such evidence 1s not
28.
hearsay at all, but is evidence proving an
external fact, namely, that a particular
opinion was held by the public or class of
public."
Even more recently, in Noel Leeming Television Ltd v.
Noel's Appliance Centre Ltd (1985) 5 I.P.R. 249 Holland J., of
the High Court of New Zealand, in a passing off action, admitted
evidence of a public survey after referring at 251 to criticism
of the Customglass Boats case in Cross on Evidence 5th ed. at
589, and to support which Mahon J.'s judgment derived from the
Chadbourn revised 1976 ed. of Wigmore on Evidence vol. 6
paragraph 1731. He said:
"With respect to the learned textbook writers,
I am of the view that the evidence given here
1s not hearsay at all. The evidence given by
the interviewers of the results of their
interviews was no more than testimony
tendered as a foundation for the expert
opinion evidence ... . Had there been no
evidence from the duly gualified experts the
evidence of the interviewers might well have
been inadmissible as containing hearsay and
no more. I have not regarded the evidence of
the results of the interviews standing alone
as being evidence in this case, and had there
been produced before the court no more than
the fact that a series of questions had been
submitted and a series of answers given, the
evidence would have been ruled inadmissible.
The important evidence was the opinions and
conclusions of those specially trained in
market research based on these questions and
answers. It is those conclusions' and
opinions which are of assistance to the court
in determining primarily whether there 1s
goodwill in the trade name and to some
limited extent whether there is room for
confusion. ..
It 1s clear that in England evidence of
surveys has been admitted for many years and
long before the recent substantial statutory
changes to the admissibility of hearsay
evidence. Whether the evidence is admissible
as not being hearsay at all or as an
exception to the hearsay rule 1s probably
29.
immaterial. For my part I prefer to admit
the evidence as not being hearsay at all."
Holland J. went on to refer to the decision of Whitford J. in
Imperial Group PLC v. Philip Morris Ltd (1984) R.P.C. 293, where
at 302-3 there 1s a discussion of survey evidence, without any
query as to its admissibility. The discussion includes the
statement at 303:
"(T)here ais an increasing reliance upon
material of this character ... ."
Like the passage I have cited earlier in these reasons from
another judgment of Whitford J. in Stringfellow's case, this
passage goes on to criticise the use of defective survey
evidence, but it shows that, at least when not defective, it 1s
commonly received in England. For myself, I think there is a
distinction to be drawn, from that point of view, between survey
evidence obtained specifically for a case, where the risk of the
introduction of biased questions and methods 1s. greater,
demanding meticulous care if the results are to be convincing,
and the use of survey evidence (such as is involved in the
present case) obtained for purposes having nothing to do with the
immediate dispute between the parties to the litigation, in
pursuance of the normal survey activities of a _ business
specializing in the regular conduct of such surveys' for
commercial purposes. Indeed the opinion expressed by Cross _on
Evidence 3rd Australian ed., section 15.32 at page 725, which
accepts the McDonald's System case as indicating the correct view
of the law, at the same time includes the following:
"An expert may base his opinion upon material
30.
(that 1s opinion survey material) compiled
over a field which is wider than the issue
before the court. Where he gathers raw data
specifically for the court hearing, this must
be authenticated like any evidence."
On this view, since Mr. Vohralik's opinion 1s based upon material
compiled over a wide field of survey of television personalities
during a period of years preceding the accrual of the cause of
action in the present case, his evidence is admissible, but 1f he
had conducted a survey specifically for the purposes of the
applicant's case, his evidence would not have been admissible.
Cross recognizes that this "conclusion may produce anomalous
results."
It may be noted that Cross's conclusion is
necessarily inconsistent with the views expressed in
McDonald's System case for at page 252 Franki J. says:
"The question I have to decide 1s not simply
whether a market survey should be admitted in
all circumstances but whether the particular
material now being tendered should be
admitted."
pot
the
At the same time, he also contemplated that in some circumstances
an opinion survey obtained specifically for the purposes of a
case might be admitted, for at 255 he said:
"This ruling is not intended to be taken as
one necessarily applicable to all types of
what might broadly be called market surveys,
and 1t may very well be that in an
appropriate case in the future some form of
market survey could be worked out at a
directions hearing or shortly thereafter,
which would permit some improvement on the
traditional way cases are conducted in
Australia where the type of fact now sought
to be proved 1s involved."
31.
An authority relied on by the respondents 1s Mobil Oil
Corporation v. Registrar of Trademarks (1983) 51 A.L.R. 735. In
that case King J. of the Supreme Court of Victoria discussed the
Customglass Boats case and at 738 he said:
"I think that all that such evidence as that
before Mahon J. can prove 1s that certain
opinions were expressed by the individual
persons interviewed. It cannot show, in the
absence of thelr direct evidence to the
court, that such opinions were genuinely held
by them or how they arrived at them. It may
be arguable that, in some circumstances,
probably reliable trends of public opinion
can be ascertained on a statistical basis by
assuming that non-genuine expressions of
opinion will cancel one another out, without
any assumption that any particular
interviewee is telling the truth. However, I
think that there is much more to. be
considered where expressions of opinion are
involved, and I know of no other authority
which supports the view that the right to
cross-examine members of the public who
furnish opinions to market surveyors can be
dispensed with for this reason."
At 740 King J. again referred to Mahon J.'s decision
and said:
"But I think with respect that such answers
would be inadmissible in Victoria because
they were expressions of opinion, and that
the corresponding answers in this case are
inadmissible for the same reason."
King J. does not cite a number of the recent decisions
to which I have referred and, with respect, it seems difficult to
reconcile his views about the admissibility and genuineness of
expressions of opinion with Dobson v. Morris and other modern
authority including the Court of Appeal decision in Process
Church of the Final Judgment v. Rupert Hart Davis Ltd noted in
Phipson on Evidence 13th ed. pages 94-95, Statements of
32.
religious belief made out of Court were there held to be
admissible, not being hearsay but evidence of what the beliefs
were of the persons who had professed those beliefs.
In the article, which I cited earlier, by James Farmer
on The Admissibility of Survey Evidence in Intellectual Property
Cases (1984) U.N.S.W.L.J. at 64 et. seq. authorities are cited
which make it clear that in the United States and in Canada
opinion research evidence has for some time been admitted.
In the present case, what has to be proved 1s not that
the opinions surveyed are true. True or false, a good opinion of
Sue Smith held by a large number of people is relevant to
establish her capacity to attract engagement for reward to
endorse products which are to be sold through character
merchandising. Indeed, in the present case the evidence shows
that advertisers and others involved in the television industry
accept as a guide for relevant decisions the opinions of Mr.
Vohralik and the recorded results of the surveys which he carries
out. Accordingly, even if the objection were correct (as I do
not think it is) that evidence of an expression of an opinion is
not evidence that that opinion is actually held, 1t would not
matter for present purposes. For a multitude of such opinions,
statistically analysed, has been on the evidence accepted by Mr.
Vohralik. It is represented in the survey results he has
obtained, and it is his opinion and his survey results, not the
raw material processed by him, on which reliance is placed. The
point may be illustrated from another field: if the racing
industry accepted an unscientific theory of genetics, a yearling
33.
bred according to that theory might still have great value. To
prove the theory unscientific would not be to prove the yearling
worthless in the marketplace. Here, of course, there is no
suggestion that the market research in question 1s other than in
accordance with the accepted principles of statistics and market
research: a fortiori, it establishes that there 1s value in the
name of Sue Smith once I accept, as I do, that advertisers act on
its validity.
In any case, what the opinion survey evidence
established about the name of Sue Smith was also independently
established by other evidence which I accept. At the relevant
time she was a personality whose name had a substantial value for
the endorsement of products including the products in question,
and that value is fairly indicated by evidence, quite apart from
the survey evidence, to which I have already referred.
I turn to the estimation of the damages. Counsel for
the applicants asked me not only to bear in mind that Sue Smith's
apparent endorsement of a particular brand of video recorder
would be likely, on the evidence, to preclude her obtaining any
engagement to endorse any other video or similar equipment, such
as television receivers, but also to assess damages on the basis
of an appropriate fee for the unauthorized use of her name in the
advertisements. Of course, in a particular case, an assessment
on these two bases might involve some overlapping, which should
be avoided. But 1s it open in an assessment of damages under the
Trade Practices Act, or for passing off, to adopt the measure of
an appropriate fee?
34.
In the ordinary case, the measure of damages under
sections 52 and 53 of the Trade Practices Act 1s as indicated by
the High Court in Gates v. City Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd
(1986) 63 A.L.R. 600.
The plaintiff's entitlement in a passing off action was
stated in Draper v. Trist (supra, at 520) by Sir Wilfrid Greene
M.R. to be "such sum as we think is properly and reasonably shown
to be, by taking all proper inferences into account, the damage
suffered by the plaintiff by reason of the wrongful acts of the
defendants." It was not suggested that there was any difference
in the measure of damages between the two types of proceeding.
Counsel for the applicants referred me to the Zecision
of Bowen C.J. in Eq., as he then was, in Interfirm Comparison
(Australia) Pty Ltd v. Law Society of New South Wales [1975] 2
N.S.W.L.R. 104. That was a suit for infringement of copyright
and breach of confidence. At 124 Bowen C.J. in Eq. said:
"The measure of damage would appear in the
circumstances to be that which was adopted in
Stovin-Bradford v. Volpoint Properties Ltd
[i971 1 ch. 1007. In other words, it
appears to me that the plaintiff is entitled
to an award of damages assessed on the basis
of what would be fair remuneration to the
plaintiff for permission to the defendant to
use its 1972 guestionnaire in the way in
which the defendant did in fact use it ~ that
is, by sending a copy of it to the University
of New England for use, but not copying. In
this regard the fact that the University,
according to my finding, is not shown to have
used it, does not destroy the plaintiff's
entitlement to the amount equivalent to the
fee it would have charged."
35.
Stovin-Bradford v. Volpoint Properties Ltd was a suit by an
architect for infringement of his copyright 1n certain plans. At
1016 Lord Denning M.R. said:
"They ought to pay as damages an amount
equivalent to the fee which they would have
had to pay for a licence."
Salmon L.J. at 1020 and Megaw L.J. at 1022-3 took the same view.
However, counsel for the respondents submitted that
these cases should be distinguished as dependent upon principles
of patent and copyright law concerning unauthorized use of a
species of property, for which an award of damages on such a
basis seems an appropriate remedy. He claimed there was no
passing off case in which damages had been so assessed. Whatever
may be said about the normal measure of damages for passing off,
I do not think counsel's distinction is valid in point of
principle. High authority establishes that the basis of a
passing off action, no less than the basis of a copyright action,
is the infringement of a right of property. In Erven Warnink
Besloten Vennootschap v. J. Townend & Sons (Hull) Ltd [1979] A.C.
731 at 741 Lord Diplock referred to "the right the invasion of
which is the subject of passing off actions as being the
"property in the business or goodwill likely to be injured by the
misrepresentation'." In Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd v. Pub Squash
Co Pty Ltd [1980] 2 N.S.W.L.R. 851 at 857 the advice of the Privy
Council cites Hornsby Building Information Centre Proprietary
Limited v. Sydney Building Information Centre Limited (1978) 140
C.L.R. 216 at 227 for "the principle that the tort of passing-off
is essentially an infringement of the 'plaintiff's intangible
~ 36.
property rights' in the goodwill attaching to his product." At
861 the advice describes such an infringement as "the foundation
of the tort". In Ricketson op. cit. at 582 the conclusion is
drawn that the principle upon which damages for passing off are
to be assessed 1s "the same as that applied in other instances in
which a plaintiff seeks damages for the infringement of a
proprietary right".
But quite apart from the question whether' the
distinction propounded by counsel is theoretically valid, there
is at least one decision which is based on the proposition that
damages for passing off (by the unauthorized use of a name
associated with the plaintiff) might properly be assessed on the
basis claimed by the applicants. In I.P.C, Magazines Limited v.
Black and White Music Corporation (1983) 9 F.S.R. 348 at 354
Goulding J. said:
"(I) think that if on a favourable view of the
law and on a consideration of live evidence
at the trial the plaintiff succeeds, almost
certainly it will be adequately compensated
by damages worked out as the eguivalent of a
reasonable royalty in accordance with
prevailing rates."
It was on this basis that he refused an interlocutory injunction
to restrain the use of the name in question by the defendant in a
record album issued by it.
I think that, provided I am careful not to overlook that
an authorized use of the name Sue Smith would have had at least
as serious an effect upon her ability to endorse other products
as the unauthorized use proved in this case, 1t is appropriate
37.
that I should take into account both the aspects of the matter
urged by the applicants. I also bear in mind the nature of the
unauthorized use of the name Sue Smith, the extent of it, and the
probability on the evidence that any commercial arrangement
actually negotiated with anyone would have authorized use varying
substantially from the unauthorized use which was in fact made.
Taking these matters into account, and in the light of the
evidence, I think the damages should be assessed at the sum of
$15,000, and I award the applicants that sum together with costs.
I certify that this and the
preceding thirty-six (36)
pages are a true copy of the
Reasons for Judgment herein of
his Honour Mr. Justice
Burchett.
Chole Associate
Dated: 16 June, 1987.
Counsel for the Applicants: Mr. J. Garnsey
with Mr. T. Golding
Solicitors for the Applicants: Gillis Delaney
Counsel for the Respondents: Mr. D. Catterns
Solicitors for the Respondents: Moore & Bevins
Dates of hearing: 4 & 5 February 1987