Boost Mobile has won an injunction in the Federal Court against embattled telco Optus to remove the word Boost in the promotion and marketing of its new products – Internet Boost and Mobile Boost.
The Federal Court in Sydney granted Boost Mobile interlocutory relief and Optus must remove all Boost branding from these products until a formal trademark infringement hearing is convened.
“We appreciate the judge respecting the urgency of this issue, forcing Optus to stop using our trademarked brand immediately, and appreciating how important our Brand is to Boost and our customers,” Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton said today.
“I hope Optus is realising that this is not a fight worth fighting such that they agree to move on and find a new word to describe its products.”
Two Blokes Talking Tech co-host Trevor Long was in the courtroom for the proceedings and was tweeting regular updates.
That’s it. Optus’ Marketing document which clearly referenced the Boost Mobile trademark seems to be the nail in the coffin for their defence.
Boost Mobile wins, Optus to stop using the term Mobile Boost and variants in it’s “Living Network” marketing and products#BoostVOptus
— Trevor Long (@trevorlong) March 14, 2023
His updates included Justice Thomas Thawley’s closing statements and decision.
Before granting the injunction Justice Thawley said: “I’m satisfied there would be confusion. The fact Optus has added its name does not protect against the claim.
“Boost’s prima facie case is relatively strong. I consider it appropriate to grant interlocutory relief.”
The court heard Optus admitted it had considered the Boost trademark while considering the use of the word Boost for its new products.
It was revealed in court Optus even had a marketing document that specifically referenced Boost Mobile.
This piece of evidence turned out to be a crucial piece of evidence and a key factor in Justice Thawley’s decision.
It’s been a turbulent six months for Optus which suffered the worst data breach in Australian history and had customers up in arms at the lack of communication and uncertainty about the security of their data and their identities.
This loss in the Federal Court is the latest blow for the telco as it tries to put the damaging data breach and tarnished image behind it.
