Two of the nation’s largest telecommunications companies are in a trademark battle over the tagline “Ready Business”.
Vodafone Australia is facing legal opposition from Telstra, who claims that it has already trademarked the line for its Digital Office Technology products, which is frequently promoted with the near identical tagline “Ready for Business”.
The dispute between the two companies and the high costs at stake for Vodafone demonstrates the importance of a company doing extensive trademarking research on their competitors before selling their products or services with a tagline, logo or image.
Not undertaking this crucial step may result in a company being taken to court by a competitor for trademark infringement or potentially losing high profits. The chief financial officer of Vodafone Australia, James Marsh, recently stated that the Australian small to medium business markets — to whom the tagline in question is targeted — is worth $4.5 billion per year.
Pinnacle TMS is Australia’s leading team of trade mark specialists. To help you avoid the problems that Vodafone Australia is currently facing, we can prepare an Initial Protection Review and Strategy Report specifically tailored to your company. This report, which is unique to Pinnacle TMS, will ensure you don’t waste any time, energy or money on investing in a name, line or image that will have little chance of getting through the registration process for any reason, including already being trademarked by a competitor. It will also help your company avoid being sued for trademark infringement.
To learn more about our trademark reporting and application services, contact our friendly staff today by calling 9520 4366 or sending us an email through our online enquiry form.
