In this case, Opposition proceedings were commenced by Propti, an Australian company which arranges property reports for property owners and vendors against the Applicant’s PROPTI CONNECT trade mark. Sage Realty Sydney is a real estate agency which rebranded as PROPTI CONNECT in 2022.
Sage Realty was not the true owner of the PROPTI CONNECT due to Propti’s prior use of the name PROPTI in connection with the operation of its property reporting platform, which was launched in 2021.
Use of the PROPTI CONNECT trade mark would cause confusion based on the Opponent’s prior reputation in the PROPTI mark.
S60 (Likelihood of Confusion based on reputation of the Opponent’s Mark)
Ultimately, Propti failed to establish those grounds and the Hearing Officer was satisfied that the mark should be permitted to proceed to registration.
S58 (Applicant not the owner of the mark)
S60 (Likelihood of Confusion based on reputation of the Opponent’s Mark)
The Hearing Officer agreed with our submissions that the trade marks PROPTI and PROPTI CONNECT were not substantially identical marks. In particular, he found that the addition of the word CONNECT was a significant point of differentiation in the PROPTI CONNECT mark and was not descriptive in relation to the offering of real estate services.
Further, the evidence produced did not establish that the Opponent had sufficient established reputation in its PROPTI mark which could give rise to market confusion or mislead the public. This decision underscores the complexities of trademark law and the need for businesses to carefully consider their branding choices to avoid potential disputes, a point often emphasized by trademark attorneys.