Expert Witness
Intellectual Property Expert Witness
With over 30 years experience in providing Expert Witness in Intellectual Property in Sydney and Australia wide, our principal Paul Blanket has provided opinions in over 35 cases that have been heard in the Federal and Supreme Courts, as well as in IP Australia hearings.
Paul has provided opinions as to the market ramifications of infringements by competitive organisations, in disputes involving such global brands as Qantas, Harry Potter, Kleenex and Kellogg’s.
He has also provided expert opinion Australia wide in many marketing litigation matters, covering such areas as disputes over loss of profits and marketing negligence.
Our services cover the total gamut of:
- briefing and on-going work with the legal team
- preparation of affidavits and statutory declarations
- court appearances.
Over the years, 90% of the organisations from whom we received a brief, either won or settled the matter favourably on behalf of their clients.
Intellectual Property Expert Witness Case Studies
VITTORIA:
in a cluttered supermarket, if a coffee customer saw two famous brands in similar glass jars with totally different brands and graphics, would they accidentally pick up the wrong product?
BIOCEUTICALS:
would a purchaser of vitamins be confused if they saw two brands with very similar containers, colour schemes and type faces but very different brand names?
ARL V SUPER LEAGUE:
the most famous football battle off the field. Rugby League was never the same again.
NIKE:
a company chose to launch Nike fragrance (the only problem was they owned the Nike Trademark in the fragrance category).
KELLOGG’S:
what happens when a fruit juice company launches a kids product featuring a toucan?
BOTOX:
the use of deceptively similar names by a variety of companies from beauty therapies to day spas.
HARRY POTTER:
can a retailer brand extend into kid’s clothing using that famous name – their women’s wear name usage predated the launch of the book, movie and merchandise franchise?
PIONEER:
what happens when a market morphs from a ‘computer industry’ to an ‘integrated communications industry’ and brands come into conflict?
QANTAS:
how close can a kangaroo logo come to the famous ‘flying kangaroo’ without infringing the well known trademark?
BUDGET:
is a travel company using the Budget name too close for comfort to the well known car rental organisation?
TABASCO:
is a ‘hot’ design company’s use of the Tabasco name too close for comfort?
SKI:
is a drinking yoghurt a drink or a food? Millions of dollars in taxes rested on that decision.
BEATS:
can other sound equipment manufacturers create derivatives of the Beats name without treading on Dr Dre’s territory?
CANON:
would customers buying batteries, using derivatives of the Canon brand name, believe they were associated with the camera brand?
SUNRICE:
is an Asian cooking school being clever or deceptively similar to a famous rice brand?
HARLEY DAVIDSON:
is an operator who offers Harley rides & refreshments in a Harley restaurant riding roughshod over the famous bike brand?
Finish: Will the average consumer be confused when they walk into a supermarket and see a new brand of dishwasher detergent in a red pack which features a red oval on the
product, with Finish in a blue pack which has a red ball on
the product?
AMPOL: What happens when a brand relaunches after a 25-year absence from the market and a challenger brand believes that their customers would be confused and pull into the wrong petrol station?
MOROCCANOIL: Since its inception, Aldi has made a practice of creating 'copycat' house brands that mimic major national brands. A leading hair care brand which sells primarily through the salons, felt that Aldi's Moroccan Argan Oil in a turquoise pack is too close to its Moroccanoil in a turquoise pack.
COLLETTE DINNIGAN:
what happens when a retailer of lady’s fashion accessories, brands her shops and merchandise 'Colette'. Would the average consumer think there is an association with the Australian fashion icon?