The evidence for Ms Notaras
27 Ms Irene Notaras affirmed three affidavits, dated 23 May 2018, 27 July 2018 and 29 July 2018. She was cross-examined.
28 In her first affidavit, Ms Notaras deposed that she operated the business Bon Trading Company (Bon Trading). Bon Trading had imported, promoted and sold coffee machines under the ATOMIC marks in Australia since approximately May 1964. Bon Trading had also:
(a) sold spare parts and provided repairs and servicing for the Atomic machines; and
(b) promoted, sold and supplied coffee and accessories (for example, t-shirts) under the Word Mark and/or the Device Mark.
29 She was, and had always been, the person who managed and conducted Bon Trading's business. Initially, she operated Bon Trading as a sole trader. She currently operated the business through the legal structure of a small company, Liflo Pty Ltd (Liflo). She was the sole director and secretary of Liflo and controlled all of Liflo's activities, including its use of the ATOMIC marks.
30 Ms Notaras deposed to the history of Atomic machines in Australia, as follows.
31 The Atomic machines were originally produced by an Italian designer and inventor, Mr Giordano Robbiati, together with persons and/or companies associated with him. Mr Robbiati's professional office was in Italy and called Brevetti Robbiati (Robbiati). Robbiati developed and commercialised the Atomic machines from the late 1940s onwards.
32 Bon Trading was appointed by Robbiati as the exclusive distributor of the Atomic machines in Australia in 1965. Ms Notaras annexed to her affidavit a copy of a letter from Mr Robbiati dated 15 September 1965 confirming the appointment.
33 After the appointment, Ms Notaras regularly visited Mr Robbiati in Italy (typically annually) and they discussed business and related matters. Ms Notaras was regularly a guest at Mr Robbiati's home, and she considered herself his friend and colleague. Between 1965 and 1972, Ms Notaras worked with Robbiati to develop and improve the Atomic machines, including the milk frothing steam wand and its operation.
34 In the late 1960s, Ms Notaras designed and drafted a two-page instruction sheet for the Atomic machines. The instruction sheet was provided with the Atomic machines that Ms Notaras sold in Australia in the late 1960s.
35 Ms Notaras also designed and drafted an instruction booklet for the Atomic machines. I refer to this further at [51]-[52] below.
36 By about the mid-1970s, Ms Notaras deposed, she became Robbiati's biggest customer, to the point where she was being shipped almost all Robbiati's production of the Atomic machines each year. About that time, Mr Robbiati told her that sales in other parts of the world were small and insignificant. She recalled that he said words to the effect of:
Irene, I am not selling many machines anywhere else in the world, it is you and your Australian business that are keeping me going.
37 She annexed to her affidavit an undated letter that Mr Robbiati sent to her sometime around June 1972. The letter stated: "All Atomic machines which we are manufacturing now are for you."
38 From the mid-1970s onwards, Ms Notaras deposed, she had an open order to Robbiati to send her all the Atomic machines that Robbiati produced. She annexed a copy of a bill of lading dated 14 February 1986, recording one of the many shipments of Atomic machines that Robbiati sent her. At that time, a carton of machines contained 20 Atomic machines, and she deposed that that particular shipment was for 540 machines.
39 By the late 1980s, Ms Notaras deposed, Mr Robbiati was elderly. It was apparent that he could not continue to operate his business in Italy for much longer. Ms Notaras deposed he said to her words to the effect of:
Keep the Atomic alive, keep it selling; carry it on. I want you to continue the business.
40 In approximately the late 1980s to early 1990s, Ms Notaras deposed, she purchased the original moulds required to manufacture the Atomic machines, together with other technical materials and supplier lists and customer lists from the Robbiati family.
41 In each year from that time until today, Ms Notaras deposed, she had caused the Atomic machines and parts for the machines to be manufactured in Italy. The Atomic machines were, and had been, manufactured for Bon Trading to her specifications by former employees or contractors of Robbiati, and persons trained by such former employees or contractors. She had then imported the Atomic machines and sold them in Australia. See, however, Ms Notaras' evidence as to local assembly, at [90] below.
42 Currently, Ms Notaras deposed, Bon Trading sold the Atomic machines and spare parts directly to customers from a retail shop she operated in Woollahra, Sydney. Bon Trading had sold the Atomic machines and spare parts from her Woollahra store since she opened the store, in approximately 1968. In the past, Bon Trading had also sold the Atomic machines through major department stores and other retail outlets, including coffee roasting shops.
43 Bon Trading, Ms Notaras deposed, also sold the Atomic machines and spare parts directly to customers by mail or telephone order and online, through its website at http://www.atomiccoffeemachines.com.au and on eBay. Bon Trading had sold the Atomic machines and spare parts online since August 2007. Bon Trading also provided servicing and repair of the Atomic machines, and had done so since at least the late 1960s.
44 Ms Notaras then turned to the sale and distribution of the Atomic machines in Australia.
45 She deposed that Bon Trading had sold the Atomic machines in Australia in every year since 1964. She had not retained business records that enabled her to identify the exact number of Atomic machines sold.
46 However, Ms Notaras deposed, she knew from her work conducting Bon Trading's business that:
(a) throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Bon Trading sold approximately 2,000 to 3,000 Atomic machines per annum;
(b) Bon Trading sold fewer Atomic machines in the years before then, and through the 1990s and 2000s.
In the absence of the relevant records of the business, I admitted this material subject to weight.
47 Apart from current stock, Ms Notaras deposed, Bon Trading had sold every Atomic machine that it had imported from Italy since 1964.
48 During the period from the late 1960s/early 1970s to the late 1980s, Ms Notaras deposed, she engaged a Perth based distributor (Mr George Samios) to sell the Atomic machines in Western Australia. She recalled supplying Mr Samios with the Atomic machines during this period, for him to on-sell in Western Australia. Ms Notaras was unable to locate any business records that documented the distributorship relationship with Mr Samios, or how many Atomic machines Bon Trading supplied to Mr Samios. The distributorship arrangement ceased in around the late 1980s, when Mr Samios passed away.
49 Ms Notaras deposed that throughout the same period, and continuing to the present, Bon Trading had also sold the Atomic machines and spare parts directly to customers in Western Australia. This had been done by phone and mail orders and (from 2007 onwards) online. She annexed a small sample of copies of orders and/or sales receipts for Atomic machines or spare parts that Bon Trading had sold directly to customers in Western Australia.
50 Ms Notaras' affidavit then turned to the supply of coffee under the ATOMIC trade mark.
51 She deposed that for at least the past four decades, Bon Trading had provided each person who had purchased an Atomic machine with an instruction booklet. She herself had inserted, and caused her staff working under her supervision to insert, the instruction booklet inside the box packaging in which each Atomic machine had been supplied over that period. She had not changed the instruction booklet over time, because she considered its "vintage" style complemented the long-standing history of the Atomic machine.
52 Since the instruction booklet was first printed, Ms Notaras deposed, it had always been her practice to include in each instruction booklet a small sample bag of finely ground coffee. She had personally stapled, and caused her staff to staple the sample bag to the page numbered 2 of each instruction booklet. She had always included the coffee sample bag in the instruction booklet, because it was important that purchasers of the Atomic machine used coffee of the same (fine dimension) grind as the sample for the best results. The relevant page of the instruction booklet stated: "The GRIND of COFFEE to be used must be IDENTICAL to that contained in sample" and underneath the small clear plastic bag, which contained a teaspoon or less of ground coffee, was stated: "Sample of grind".
53 At [28] of her first affidavit as qualified by her second affidavit, Ms Notaras deposed that she, and staff working under her supervision, had prepared the coffee sample bags by purchasing coffee beans of various roasts, grinding them down to the correct size at the Woollahra shop and placing the ground coffee into small plastic sample bags. To clarify that statement, Ms Notaras deposed that sometimes the coffee that she and her staff had ground down and placed into the sample bags had been given to her by coffee roasters.
54 Ms Notaras deposed that during the period between the mid-1960s and the 1970s, Bon Trading also sold ground coffee in small (½ pound net) cans. Bon Trading sold the ½ pound coffee cans direct to customers. In addition, every customer who bought an Atomic machine direct from Bon Trading was given one of the coffee cans free. There was little in the way of vacuum packaged coffee then, she deposed, unlike today.
55 She did not now remember the exact year that Bon Trading first sold the ½ pound coffee cans. She annexed a copy of an order form that Bon Trading received for 12 of these coffee cans on 27 May 1972. She also annexed a copy of a bundle of mail orders that Bon Trading received for the coffee cans in the period between 1968 and 1972. During the 1960s and 1970s she remembered supplying ½ pound cans of coffee under orders like those. She was operating Bon Trading as a sole trader during that period. She had not retained business records documenting all such sales.
56 The coffee she supplied in the ½ pound cans was roasted and ground by a company called Andronicus. She personally chose to sell Andronicus coffee, because she liked its taste. She supplied Andronicus with Atomic machines (which Andronicus on-sold) and Andronicus supplied coffee that was finely ground to the size appropriate for use in the Atomic machines. She regarded Andronicus as the leading coffee roaster at that time.
57 Ms Notaras deposed that the ½ pound coffee cans that Andronicus supplied to her were blank (unmarked) on their surface. She printed paper labels, which she cut into strips and wrapped around the cans and glued to the cans. She annexed to her affidavit a black and white copy of the label that she recalled cutting into strips and wrapping around the ½ pound cans. It bore the Word Mark in lower case. She had been unable to locate in her records any of the actual coffee cans or original labels themselves. She exhibited to her affidavit an original coffee can label misprint that she had been able to locate in her records. She also exhibited a photograph of the coffee can, taken for promotional purposes sometime in the 1970s or 1980s.
58 At some stage (to the best of her recollection, it was the mid to late 1980s) Andronicus was bought out by another business, and ceased supplying coffee, including to Bon Trading. For a short period before Andronicus was bought out, Andronicus supplied Bon Trading with larger coffee cans (with a heavier weight of one pound) that bore its own label. When Andronicus was bought out, Ms Notaras deposed, she was unable to find a suitable alternative supplier.
59 Since Andronicus was bought out, Ms Notaras deposed, it had always been her intention to resume selling ground coffee under the Word Mark. In her opinion, coffee machines and coffee went together "hand in hand". She had always thought it desirable, from a business perspective, for Bon Trading's business in the Atomic machines to be complemented by ATOMIC branded ground coffee.
60 In May 2005, Ms Notaras registered the business name ATOMIC COFFEE in Liflo's name. She annexed to her affidavit a copy of that business name registration. She deposed that her intention when she registered the business name was to resume selling ATOMIC branded ground coffee traded through Liflo, using that business name and the Word Mark. She deposed that this remained her intention today.
61 Ms Notaras deposed that in addition to registering the ATOMIC COFFEE business name, before and after 2005, she had investigated various different coffee blends, coffee roasters and coffee suppliers with the objective of resuming the sale of ATOMIC branded coffee. For example, in 2011, 2015 and 2017, she attended the Host Exhibition in Milan, Italy. She regarded the Host Exhibition to be the leading Italian coffee exhibition. While she was at each Host Exhibition, she sampled many different coffee types and investigated potential coffee suppliers. She annexed to her affidavit a copy of some emails between her and a supplier whom she met, and identified as a potential supplier, at the Host Exhibition in 2011: see further [105] below.
62 Ms Notaras deposed that in around the early 1990s, she also bought her own coffee roaster. However, she was distracted by caring for her elderly mother, who was unwell in that period, and she never got around to getting the roaster operating. She no longer had that roaster. She deposed that she had not yet decided whether she would buy another roaster, or source roasted coffee from Italy, when she resumed selling coffee under the Word Mark. She deposed that she aimed to resume selling coffee in the next six months.
63 Ms Notaras deposed that from no business to begin with, she considered that she had built up a unique, niche market for the Atomic machine with the ATOMIC brand, based substantially on promotion, teaching and service. She deposed that she was aware from her work operating the Bon Trading business that in providing a personalised service in what was essentially a niche market business, it was essential that she made a personal appearance in the media to not only promote the equipment, but most importantly, to educate customers as to this unique and distinctive method of making rich, aromatic coffee.
64 She deposed that since 1965 she had promoted the Atomic machines on television, via interviews, at various shows and exhibitions, in the press, via in store demonstrations and the like as well as magazines, newspapers and other periodicals. She gave details and examples of such promotion.
65 Initially, she established her business in Balmain in Sydney. In about 1968 she relocated to her present Woollahra address. From those premises, she had been selling the Atomic machines and spare parts up until the present time, as well as providing servicing facilities. The Atomic machines were also sold in each outlet of the major department stores across Australia in the 1970s until the late 1980s, being David Jones, Grace Brothers, Farmers and Myers, as well as other large retailers and major coffee roasting shops.
66 In order to promote the Atomic machines in the Australian market, Ms Notaras deposed, she initially advertised in newspapers and also did home demonstrations. She, together with staff, also demonstrated the product at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney for many years and other exhibition venues.
67 Ms Notaras listed some of the larger outlets to which, she deposed, Bon Trading had supplied the Atomic machines over the years, in addition to department stores:
(a) Andronicus Coffee;
(b) Harris Coffee;
(c) ASCO Coffee;
(d) Coffex Coffee;
(e) Cremorne Coffee and Tea;
(f) J & C Coffee Centre;
(g) Grinders Hotel and Cafe Supplies;
(h) Grinders Coffee;
(i) Hotel and Cafe Supplies in Perth and South Australia;
(j) Lucia's Pizza Bar;
(k) Nock & Kirby's;
(l) Renoir's Coffee Shops;
(m) Renita Espresso Equipment;
(n) Charles Vella;
(o) Coffee Plus;
(p) Chatterbox; and
(q) Electro Centre.
68 During Thursday through to Saturday in the 1970s and 1980s, Ms Notaras deposed, she and demonstrators hired by her attended the kitchenware departments of Farmers and Grace Brothers retail stores in the city of Sydney and other major shopping centres to promote the Atomic machines and the ATOMIC brand. She personally attended in the order of hundreds of demonstrations during that period.
69 She deposed that it was the usual practice during those demonstrations to make free cups of coffee with the Atomic machine for customers and potential customers to sample. She herself made and handed out cups of coffee to customers. She exhibited to her affidavit an original point of sale promotional stand from that period. The Atomic machine was displayed in that stand at the department and shopping store demonstrations. She deposed that it was also displayed in that stand in the window of the Woollahra shop up until the previous week.
70 Ms Notaras deposed to the sale packaging in which Atomic machines had been sold since 1964. She annexed a copy of a photograph of the packaging. She deposed that all Atomic machines sold in Australia had displayed the Word Mark and the Device Mark on the machine itself.
71 Ms Notaras deposed that in the 1970s and 1980s she was asked by various television people to be interviewed with the Atomic machine and gave special interviews on Sydney television, as well as in Canberra, Melbourne, Wollongong, Brisbane, Adelaide and other various centres. It was very much a one to one type of marketing and selling activity during that period.
72 She also produced a television advertisement that was broadcast nationally, including to Western Australia, on channels 7, 9 and 10. She annexed to her affidavit a copy of a photograph taken of the spine of the commercial tape that recorded the television advertisement. The television commercial was broadcast in the 1980s and 1990s. A video of the television commercial had been available on YouTube's website at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp8eCxPlebY&feature=youtu.be since 9 August 2013.
73 She deposed that in 1982 she produced a demonstration video recording of how to make coffee using the Atomic machine. This video had been available on YouTube's website at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgPhg9SwkGU since July 2011.
74 She annexed to her affidavit a printout that recorded the current YouTube entry for the television commercial and for the video.
75 Ms Notaras deposed that it had been her practice to provide a copy of a business card to potential customers interested in purchasing the Atomic machines since at least the 1970s. She annexed a copy of her current business card, which she had used since at least the 1990s.
76 She deposed that the Atomic machines had been promoted in many different print advertisements and print feature articles over the years. She set out and annexed some examples of this, dating from May 1964 to 2014.
77 She also annexed to her affidavit letters she had received, and continued to receive, from satisfied customers, together with some example responses from Bon Trading.
78 She annexed a copy of an example customer invoice for the Atomic machine, dated 6 July 1999. She deposed that the present retail price of the Atomic machines was $575.00.
79 Ms Notaras deposed that from approximately 1999 to the present, she had not carried out much advertising and promotional work. Ms Notaras' thinking was that she had not done so because it had been her assessment that the reputation of the ATOMIC brand in the marketplace was sufficiently strong that she was able to carry on selling and servicing the Atomic machines, without the need for engaging in any promotional activity. In addition, owners of Atomic machines in Australia were now her "demonstrators". They made coffee using the Atomic machines for their family and friends. This led to sales by reference and word of mouth.
80 From time to time, she deposed, Bon Trading received requests from various media outlets to loan an Atomic machine for publications, television and other publicity. She annexed a bundle of copies of some examples of these requests. She lent the Atomic machine as requested in each of those examples.
81 Ms Notaras deposed that she caused the Atomic website www.atomiccoffeemachines.com.au to be set up in 2013. Before then, she promoted the Atomic machines, parts and accessories using the website www.bontradingco.com.au. She annexed to her affidavit some printouts that illustrated current website content. She also annexed some printouts from the Wayback Machine's "web archive" of the Atomic website, as it appeared on 21 May 2013 and 14 April 2013. She deposed that she recognised these pages as displaying content that appeared on the website at that time.
82 She annexed a printout of Bon Trading's eBay information on eBay's website https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/bontrading. The entry recorded that Bon Trading became an eBay member in August 2007.
83 Ms Notaras deposed that since 2005 she had sold Atomic branded merchandise in her shop in Sydney by mail or phone order and online throughout Australia, including to Western Australia. She annexed to her affidavit a printout from the Atomic website that illustrated the merchandise she currently sold. She also annexed a printout dated 4 September 2012 of the old website at www.bontradingco.com.au. The printout illustrated Atomic merchandise that she was selling in 2012.
84 Ms Notaras deposed that she first became aware of the respondent and its business in or around July 2016, when she saw the respondent's trade mark application advertised by IP Australia. She decided to oppose the application.
85 She deposed that she was very concerned that:
(a) The respondent had adopted, and now sought to register, the ATOMIC trade mark for the purpose of appropriating, and benefiting from, the reputation and goodwill that she had developed in the ATOMIC brand through decades of hard work and investment.
(b) The respondent's use of the ATOMIC trade mark the subject of the Application for coffee and coffee related goods or services would cause consumers to be confused, misled or deceived into believing the respondent's coffee and coffee related goods or services were provided by, or licensed by, or somehow associated with, her business and/or the Atomic machines.
(c) The reputation and goodwill of her business and the Atomic machines would be damaged by the respondent's use of the ATOMIC trade mark for coffee and coffee related goods or services.
(d) If the Respondent obtained registration of the Application, the respondent could rely on that registration to try and prevent Bon Trading from supplying coffee samples with the Atomic machines and/or selling or supplying ATOMIC branded coffee.
I admitted this material as limited to Ms Notaras' thinking and state of mind, and subject to relevance.
86 Ms Notaras deposed she was aware of registered Australian Trade Mark No. 1040677, owned by Suntory Coffee Australia Limited (Suntory) for the trade mark ATOMIC in relation to goods including coffee. She deposed she had decided to file an application to the Registrar of Trade Marks for that registration to be removed from the Register for non-use. To her knowledge, no ATOMIC branded coffee had ever been sold by Suntory in Australia.
87 Ms Notaras' second affidavit, affirmed 27 July 2018, concerned certain financial statements and other documents for the period between 2008 and 2015 the subject of a notice to produce.
88 In the parts of that affidavit which were read or tendered, Ms Notaras deposed that in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years, she operated the Bon Trading business through Liflo. It was not possible for her to identify the exact proportion of Liflo's income in those years that was attributable to the sale of the Atomic machines by Liflo, because she had never kept a separate account or ledger of the number of ATOMIC machines that Liflo sold. However, she was the sole director of Liflo, and she worked in the Bon Trading Woollahra shop on a full time basis. She was aware from this work that over half of the income that Liflo generated in these years was derived from the sale of Atomic machines. She said this because the Atomic machines were the highest price goods that Bon Trading sold, and she had been personally involved in their sale.
89 She exhibited to this affidavit examples of shipping invoices. One such document was a copy of a receipt that recorded a shipment of goods to Bon Trading dated sometime in 2011 (it was, she said, difficult to read the month stamped in the bottom right hand corner). She recognised the goods the subject of the shipment to be 590 kilograms of original parts for the Atomic machines (the machines were presently finally assembled in Australia). Each machine weighed 2.03 kg. This shipment therefore enabled the assembly of about 290 Atomic machines. The original parts the subject of the shipment were assembled into Atomic machines and sold.
90 A second document was a copy of a further receipt of goods shipped to Bon Trading dated 5 October 2011. She deposed that she recognised the goods the subject of the shipment to be 274 original parts for the Atomic machines (identified in the shipping receipt as "Atomic coffee machine and jugs"). Again, Ms Notaras deposed, the original parts the subject of the shipment were assembled into Atomic machines and sold.
91 Ms Notaras deposed that she operated Bon Trading as a sole trader during the 1970s and the 1980s, and she was personally involved in the sale of the Atomic machines. That is, she and assistants working under her supervision wrote tax receipts into the books that were shown in the photographs annexed to her affidavit, accepted payments from customers, and handed customers the Atomic machines, or sent them to customers by mail. While it was impossible for her to remember the exact number of Atomic machines that she sold in each year during that period, it was her recollection that she sold at least 2,000 to 3,000 Atomic machines each year during that period. I admitted this evidence as to the number of Atomic machines sold each year but subject to weight.
92 Ms Notaras deposed that Bon Trading had sold the Atomic machine to consumers in all States and Territories of Australia. She annexed a copy of at least one sales invoice for the supply of an Atomic machine or part to each of, she deposed: Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory. There was also an additional invoice in the bundle from Western Australia before April 2015. She had not been able to locate invoices for the Northern Territory or Tasmania. However, over the years, she deposed, she could recall personally causing Atomic machines to be sent to both the Northern Territory and Tasmania. In the absence of more comprehensive records of the business, I admitted this material subject to weight.
93 Ms Notaras annexed to her second affidavit email communications by her to her former accountant on 25 July 2018 concerning the production of records in answer to a notice to produce, and her former accountant's reply to her solicitors, dated 27 July 2018, stating in part, with reference to Ms Notaras: "This lady is a liar and a thief." The former accountant was Ms Notaras' accountant for 15 to 20 years up to 2013. I refer to this material further at [289] below.
94 Ms Notaras' third affidavit, affirmed 29 July 2018, annexed income tax returns and financial statements for Liflo and need not be further considered.
95 Ms Notaras accepted in cross-examination that from about the 1980s Australians had become increasingly interested in coffee. Since that time Sydney and Melbourne had been known for the availability of good coffee. One such good coffee brand that was well known in about the 1970s and the early 1980s was Andronicus.
96 She accepted that over the last 10 or 15 years the domestic coffee machine market had become much more competitive than it was when she first started business. She was asked whether since about 2005 there had been many more coffee machines for a domestic consumer to choose from than there were. Ms Notaras' answer was that there were many electric coffee machines, but they came and went, and there were not many stovetop machines available on the market. In the main they were ATOMIC and Bialetti.
97 Ms Notaras agreed that over the last five years Bon Trading had increased its sales of Bialetti coffee makers and the price ranged from $35 to about $77 retail. She also agreed that Bon Trading had sold Zacconi machines over the last six or seven years and that its retail price on special was $950. Its ordinary price was about $1100.
98 Ms Notaras agreed that the Zacconi machine was more expensive than the Atomic machine and ultimately accepted that, contrary to her affidavit, the Atomic machines were not the highest priced goods that Bon Trading sold.
99 She agreed that since about the 1980s, good coffee beans and ground coffee had been available at least in Sydney and Melbourne.
100 She was not aware that Genovese was a highly regarded coffee roaster which made available in Australia coffee beans and ground coffee since before the 1970s.
101 She agreed that Grinders was a highly regarded roaster which supplied coffee and coffee beans in Australia since around 1962. She did business with Grinders, probably in the 1970s.
102 Ms Notaras agreed that the number of companies supplying coffee beans and ground coffee in Australia had increased since the 1970s.
103 It was put to her in cross-examination that if she had wanted to purchase coffee beans or ground coffee in the 1980s and 1990s she would have been able to find a supplier in Australia. She agreed. She also agreed she could have done that from suppliers in Australia or in Italy. It was put to her that it was not correct to say that she was unable to find a suitable alternative coffee supplier when Andronicus stopped supplying her. Her answer was that Andronicus was the only supplier with cans that were vacuum packed and she knew of nobody else that had that facility. She said there were suppliers, but she was posting out the coffee so it had to last. She said the Grinders coffee was not vacuum packed and there was no vacuum packed coffee available in the 1980s or 1990s which was suitable for the ATOMIC and which could be packed in the box with the machine.
104 It was put to Ms Notaras that if she had wanted to source coffee to sell to customers in the 1980s or the 1990s she could have done so. Her answer was it depended on the packaging because most of her customers were mail-order customers. She said that she knew of nobody that had suitable packaging. It was put to her that she did not spend any time trying to find somebody and her answer, as I understood it, was not responsive.
105 Ms Notaras was asked in cross-examination about email correspondence with an Italian company called Torrefazione. She agreed that in her view Torrefazione was a good brand of coffee and had a good reputation. It was put to her that there was no evidence that she had any correspondence with Torrefazione about selling their coffee under a brand other than their own brand. She answered that she had had a verbal conversation. She said she was looking at every aspect and had actually decided against importing coffee.
106 It was put to Ms Notaras that she had not given evidence about sourcing coffee anywhere else in Australia to resell to her customers, apart from this correspondence with Torrefazione. Her answer was that she had "spoken to a lot".
107 It was put to her that she had no document, apart from the Torrefazione correspondence to show any discussion she had had. Ms Notaras agreed she did not have documents but said she had business cards.
108 It was put to her that it was difficult to remember, going back all those decades, as to exactly what she had sold and what she had not sold. She agreed it was difficult, but said the main part of the business was the ATOMIC and "they were just coming and going".
109 She disagreed with the proposition that she had not reached any serious level in negotiations at any point for the supply of coffee to her. She disagreed that it had not progressed beyond a general discussion with any supplier of coffee at any point.
110 The cross-examination on this point ended as follows:
As at April 2015 you had no intention to supply coffee to consumers, ground coffee or other coffee?---Well, I did have every intention.
But that was 30, maybe 40 years after you dealt with Andronicus with their coffee and you hadn't done it in that time, had you?---Had done - - -
You hadn't supplied coffee in that time, had you?---Only samples.
111 She agreed that once she sold an Atomic machine to a customer, she aimed to have further transactions with that customer through the sale of spare parts and through servicing the machine. She agreed that the spare parts and servicing component was a minor but important part of her business, and had been since 2015.
112 Ms Notaras was taken in cross-examination to her response to a notice to produce.
113 She was taken to two documents which in her second affidavit she had identified as separate shipments. Ultimately she accepted that it was likely that the two documents referred to the same shipment of goods.
114 Ms Notaras accepted in cross-examination that some of the goods referred to in invoices she had annexed to establish sales were invoices in respect of non-ATOMIC goods, such as an induction plate and soda siphons.
115 She did not agree in cross-examination that there was a period of about nine years in the 1990s up to about 2001 when the Atomic machine was not available in Australia. The proposition derived from annexures to Ms Notaras' affidavits. She maintained nevertheless that the contents were unreliable.
116 Ms Emily Jane Murphy, solicitor, affirmed an affidavit dated 18 May 2018. She was not required for cross-examination.
117 The first part of her affidavit concerned the sale of coffee machines and coffee through the same trade channels, illustrated by reference to the Nespresso coffee business. Ms Murphy said she had observed the Nespresso coffee business promoting and offering for sale coffee machines, coffee and accessories (such as coffee cups) under the Nespresso trade mark. She annexed a collection of screenshots from the Nespresso website. Nespresso branded coffee and coffee machines were sold at various locations in Australia, including a boutique store located at 188 Pitt Street, in Sydney. She annexed a fact sheet to her affidavit which showed that the Sydney Nespresso boutique store opened in 2010. The screenshots annexed to Ms Murphy's affidavit showed locations where Nespresso branded coffee and/or coffee machines were sold in Sydney, there being some 16 locations.
118 Ms Murphy deposed that on 16 May 2018 she attended the Nespresso Boutique located at the Wintergarden Shopping Centre, Brisbane. She observed the coffee bar facility and that customers were able to receive a complimentary coffee, made by staff using the Nespresso branded coffee and coffee machines. She ordered a coffee from the menu and observed other customers doing the same. On the same date, Ms Murphy obtained a collection of screenshots of the Nespresso website dated 23 January 2014, 23 November 2013, 1 April 2014 and 14 January 2014 from the Wayback Machine archive. The screenshots illustrated the promotion and offer for sale of coffee machines, coffee and accessories (such as coffee cups) under the Nespresso trade mark online in January 2014.
119 Ms Murphy deposed that she had observed the online appliance retailer Kogan promote and offer for sale both coffee and coffee machines under the Lavazza and Nescafé trade marks, respectively. She annexed a screenshot from Kogan's website on 14 May 2018 showing the promotion and offer for sale of a Lavazza branded coffee machine together with Lavazza branded coffee. A further screenshot from the same website showed the offer for sale of a Nescafé branded coffee machine together with Nescafé branded coffee.
120 Ms Murphy deposed to a visit on 14 May 2018 to the Coles supermarket at 700 Logan Road, Greenslopes, Queensland. She there observed coffee machines being offered for sale under the trade marks Espressotoria and Map in the same supermarket aisle and on the supermarket shelf located directly underneath the shelf where coffee was also sold under the Espressotoria and Map trade marks, respectively.
121 Ms Murphy deposed to visits she made on 16 May 2018 to two cafes. The first was "Bunker" in Milton, Queensland. She there observed coffee machines or makers such as the AeroPress and Hario V60 Dripper being offered for sale in the cafe where dine in and takeaway coffee were also being served. She annexed photographs. The second cafe was "Kin + Co" in Teneriffe, Queensland. Ms Murphy observed coffee machines or makers such as AeroPress, Hario V60 Dripper and Bialetti being sold in the cafe where dine in and take away coffee was also being sold. She annexed photographs.
122 Mr Marcello Nadile, director of Euroespresso Machine Co Pty Ltd (Euroespresso), affirmed an affidavit dated 18 May 2018.
123 His evidence was that he and his wife had operated Euroespresso as a family run business since 1986. Mr Nadile worked full-time in the business. The purpose of his affidavit was briefly to identify what goods and services Euroespresso provided.
124 Since 1986, he deposed, Euroespresso had:
(a) imported, sold and serviced espresso coffee machines, including commercial models (sold for use in cafes, restaurants etc), and domestic models (sold for use in households). The primary brand of coffee machine that Euroespresso imported and sold was the Italian brand La Pavoni. To his knowledge, his company was the only distributor of La Pavoni coffee machines in Australia;
(b) roasted and sold coffee to commercial and domestic customers, in a variety of forms e.g. beans, espresso grind, stove top percolator grind, et cetera. For example, the coffee blends that Euroespresso roasted and sold included the company's Euroblend House Blend and Pavoni Blend;
(c) operated a cafe and retail store/showroom at an address on Parramatta Road, Annandale, New South Wales; and
(d) provided spare parts and servicing for the La Pavoni espresso coffee machines.
125 He annexed to his affidavit a printout of pages of Euroespresso's website.
126 He also annexed some photographs of the Annandale cafe and retail store/showroom taken on 17 May 2018 and deposed that the in-store layout and arrangement, as shown in those photographs, had been the same for over a decade.
127 He identified what goods and services were provided at Euroespresso's Annandale cafe and retail store/showroom, which was open to the general public. Since 1986, the public had been able to:
(a) buy La Pavoni coffee machines (commercial or domestic);
(b) sample and by the company's house roasted coffee, for example the EUROBLEND and PAVONI BLEND coffee;
(c) purchase fresh made espresso coffee from the in store cafe (cappuccino, cafe latte, flat white, short black, long black, et cetera), including coffee made using the company's own blends;
(d) access the company's spare parts and coffee machine repair/servicing business.
128 Mr Nadile identified how and why the name PAVONI BLEND was chosen for that blend of coffee. The PAVONI BLEND was a medium to dark roast with a sharp spicy flavour. He and his wife chose to name the blend PAVONI BLEND, because they made the blend for use in the La Pavoni machines specifically.
129 Mr Nadile addressed the question whether he was aware of the manufacturer of the La Pavoni coffee machines, La Pavoni S.p.a., ever having sold coffee. He first became aware that that company sold coffee about 20 years ago, when he visited in Milan, Italy the roaster that supplied La Pavoni with the coffee that company sold. He annexed to his affidavit a copy of a printout from the website of La Pavoni S.p.A., illustrating the sale by that company on its website of PAVONI ESPRESSO brand coffee in 10 kilogram and 12.5 kilogram packets.
130 Mr Nadile said he was aware of the ATOMIC brand of coffee maker. His opinion was that ATOMIC was a very well-known Italian made domestic coffee maker. It had been on the market for decades. For a time, his company itself supplied the Atomic coffee maker.
131 Mr Nadile was cross-examined. He agreed that over the last 10 or 15 years the domestic coffee machine market in Australia had become much more competitive than when he first started in business. He agreed there were many more domestic coffee machines for a customer in Australia to choose from in the period from 2005 until the present than there were in the 1980s or the early 1990s when he first started in business.
132 Mr Nadile agreed that he had supplied Atomic coffee machines from 1986 for 10 or 12 years so that his last sale was, roughly, more than 15 years ago. Although he was not still selling the Atomic machine he displayed an Atomic machine on the shelf in his store. He agreed he also had on that shelf other caffettiera or coffee pots, as well as some old coffee grinders. He agreed that the purpose of displaying those old caffettiera and grinders was to create a bit of atmosphere in his store and to show that he and his business were serious about coffee making.
133 Mr Nadile agreed that his purpose in having the Atomic machine on a shelf was not to create an association in the minds of his customers between his business and the manufacturers of the Atomic machine. He did not put the Atomic pot there to create a connection between his business and Bon Trading nor with Ms Notaras.