Ground 2
48 Ground 2 of the notice of appeal contends that the primary judge erred by finding, firstly, that the Word Mark was not capable of distinguishing the appellant's beer within the meaning of s 41(1) of the Act and, secondly, by rejecting the Word Mark under s 41(3). Given the structure of s 41 of the Act, and in particular s 41(2), the first contention, in fact, proceeds from the second contention: see [20] above.
49 The notice of appeal provides the following particulars:
(a) The primary judge found, as agreed by the parties, that "… the combination of words "urban ale" does not convey any significance in terms of style or flavour characteristics of beer.": [135] of Judgment 1 (and restated at [140] of Judgment 1).
(b) Having correctly made the finding referred to in sub-paragraph (a) above, his Honour erred, on the issue of capacity to distinguish, by finding that:
(i) "… the meaning of "urban ale", when used in connection with beer, is [not] allusive or metaphorical": [141] of Judgment 1;
(ii) "… [urban ale] describes the beer as having been produced in a city location …. [and produced] in an inner-city craft brewery": [141] of Judgment 1;
(iii) "…the use of the word [urban, as a consequence] is descriptive and laudatory….": [141] of Judgment 1;
(iv) "… each of the words "urban" and "ale", when used in relation to beer, are descriptive. Their combination does not alter their ordinary signification or their descriptiveness.": [144] of Judgment 1; and
(v) "…the Urban Ale mark is not to any extent inherently adapted to distinguish Urban Alley's beer products from those of other producers...": [145] of Judgment 1.
(c) Having correctly made the finding referred to in sub-paragraph (a) above, his Honour ought also to have found that the Word Mark was inherently adapted to distinguish the Appellant's beer products from those of other traders on the basis that it does not describe a style or flavour characteristics of beer.
50 The reference in these particulars and the other particulars in the notice of appeal to "Judgment 1" is to the primary judge's reasons published as Urban Alley Brewery Pty Ltd v La Sirène Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 82; 150 IPR 11.
51 In trade mark law, a finding that a "word" mark is not to any extent inherently adapted to distinguish a trader's goods from the goods of others means that the word, in relation to those goods, serves a purely descriptive function. The rationale for not allowing such words to be registered as trade marks is that the registration would result in an appropriation of the common stock of language that all should be free to use for its ordinary meaning.
52 In the present case, the primary judge referred to the following explanation of the notion of inherent adaptation in Apple Inc v Registrar of Trade Marks [2014] FCA 1304; 227 FCR 511 at [11]:
11 What does it mean to say that a trade mark is inherently adapted to distinguish the goods or services of one person from the goods or services of another? The notion of inherent adaptation is one that concerns the intrinsic qualities of the mark itself, divorced from the effects or likely effects of registration. Where the mark consists solely of words, attention is directed to whether those words are taken from the common stock of language and, if so, the degree to which those words are, in their ordinary use, descriptive of the goods or services for which registration is sought, and would be used for that purpose by others seeking to supply or provide, without improper motive, such goods or services in the course of trade.
53 Considered in the abstract, the primary judge's finding that the Word Mark was not to any extent inherently adapted to distinguish the appellant's beer might seem surprising. However, his Honour's conclusion was based on contextual facts to which his Honour was entitled to have regard.
54 In Mark Foy's Limited v Davies Coop and Company Limited (1956) 95 CLR 190 at 195, Dixon CJ said:
It is easy to say that the words are addressed to persons who are accustomed to speak an idiom to which courts are strangers and who are more sensitive than judges to allusive forms of speech, which, it is claimed, possess a greater efficacy in the lively communication of more or less definable ideas. But if the claim is that the words possess a meaning which courts might not be expected to know, it would have been easy enough to adduce evidence of the meaning ...
55 When reflecting on numerous decisions of the High Court dealing with whether a mark has been adapted to distinguish goods, the majority in Cantarella Bros Pty Limited v Modena Trading Pty Limited [2014] HCA 48; 254 CLR 337 (Cantarella) said at [44]:
44 … Those decisions show that assessing the distinctiveness of a word commonly calls for an inquiry into the word's ordinary signification and whether or not it has acquired a secondary meaning.
56 The majority went on to say at [59]:
59 … In relation to a word mark … "inherent adaption to distinguish" requires examination of the word itself, in the context of its proposed application to particular goods in Australia.
57 One of the decisions to which the majority in Cantarella referred was F. H. Faulding & Co. Limited v Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (1965) 112 CLR 537, which concerned the registrability of the word "Barrier" in respect of "chemical substances prepared for use in medicine and pharmacy". After reviewing the evidence in that case of trade use of "Barrier", Kitto J said (at 556-557):
The conclusion seems inevitable that at least by the year of the initial registration of the appellant's trade mark (1943) the word Barrier had caught on as a word peculiarly apt, according to its ordinary signification, for descriptive use in connexion with skin protective creams, so that any trader in such creams would be very likely indeed, in the ordinary course of business and without any improper motive, to desire to use the word in order to distinguish such creams in general from creams intended for other purposes. We have not to inquire, on this aspect of the case, whether or not the respondent began its use of the word with a view to appropriating to itself some of the goodwill which the appellant had built up for its own product. What matters is that at all material times the word has had such a place in the vocabulary of persons concerned with skin protective creams that according to the principle which must be applied under the Trade Marks Acts the appellant cannot be allowed a monopoly of its use in connexion with such creams.
58 In the present case, evidence as to the meaning of "urban" in the composite expression "urban ale" in the context of beer was adduced by the respondent.
59 The primary judge found that, at one level of meaning, the word "urban", when used in relation to beer, conveyed the meaning that the beer was brewed in a city location as opposed to a country location. His Honour noted that it is well-known that many traditional or mainstream brewers are located in urban areas.
60 However, the primary judge also found that, at another level of meaning, the word "urban", when used in relation to beer, had come to signify a connection with the craft beer industry. In particular, the word, so used, had come to signify craft beer made in an inner city location. The primary judge saw this use as not only descriptive of the beer as such, but also as laudatory, indicating that the brewer or the beer is "fashionable", "trendy" or "cool", and therefore attractive for that reason.
61 These findings were based, in part, on the work of journalists writing about beer in Australia. The publications, which are summarised at [80]-[91] of his Honour's reasons, were directed to beer producers and consumers. His Honour took this as evidence of the common usage of the word "urban" by those having an interest in beer, whether as producers or consumers.
62 The primary judge also relied on evidence that showed that businesses associated with beer had adopted or used the word "urban" as part of their product names and business names. The evidence is summarised at [93]-[103] of his Honour's reasons. His Honour accepted that the respondent's own use of "urban" in the name "Farmhouse Style Urban Pale by La Sirène" was motivated by its desire to describe the location of the production of its beer (in an urban area) and that this, too, was evidence of a trader using the word "urban" for its ordinary signification.
63 The primary judge also received evidence of opinion from a beer industry writer, Mr Kirkegaard. His Honour accepted that Mr Kirkegaard's industry experience qualified him to express an opinion on the common usage and meaning of the word "urban" when used in relation to beer products and breweries. The appellant did not, and does not, challenge the reception of that evidence. Further, Mr Kirkegaard's opinion on the common usage and meaning of the word "urban" in this context was not directly challenged in cross-examination.
64 The primary judge accepted Mr Kirkegaard's opinion that the word "urban" does not have any particular significance in terms of beer style or flavour characteristics; that it is a very generic term used to describe the location of a brewery or its target audience; that it communicates the aesthetic of an inner-city brewery or describes the inner-city beer movement; and that it is a generic term that brewers use to describe their location or ground their beer marketing as being relevant to an inner-city consumer.
65 Importantly, the primary judge recorded the parties' agreement that, in connection with beer and breweries, the word "urban" conveys its ordinary meaning that the beer is brewed in a city as opposed to a country location. His Honour also recorded that the parties generally agreed that "urban" had become associated with craft beer products and breweries, referring to the fact that the beer is produced in an inner city location which is regarded within a certain segment of the market as "cool" or "trendy", and thus attractive for that reason.
66 The primary judge also noted the parties' agreement (which we note is consistent with Mr Kirkegaard's evidence) that the combination "urban ale" does not convey any significance in terms of style or flavour characteristics of beer. Rather, the primary judge found that the words signify a craft beer brewed in an inner-city location. We will return to this juxtaposition: see [79]-[85] below.
67 In this appeal, the appellant disputes the correctness of the primary judge's findings of fact as to the ordinary signification of "urban ale". This is a somewhat ambitious undertaking given the agreement between the parties, which we have noted at [65]-[66] above. Nonetheless, we were taken to the evidence on which the primary judge relied in an endeavour to persuade us that his Honour's findings on the descriptive and laudatory use of "urban" in relation to beer were not open to him on that evidence. In undertaking that review, the appellant submitted that the primary judge failed to distinguish between registration of a mark for "beer" and registration of the same mark for a "brewery".
68 We are not persuaded that the primary judge failed to appreciate the distinction between registration of a mark for "beer" and registration of the same mark for a "brewery". Indeed, at [159] of his reasons, the primary judge noted that distinction when dealing with the respondent's challenge to the validity of the Word Mark based on s 44(1) of the Act. We do not accept that this distinction somehow eluded his Honour when considering the challenge to validity based on s 41(1) of the Act.
69 It is true that a number of the publications on which the primary judge relied referred to "urban" breweries. However, the articles were about the craft beers brewed in those breweries, such that, as a matter of substance, the word "urban" attached not only to the brewery but also to the beer produced from the brewery. In some cases, the beer was referred to as an "urban product" or "urban brews". In one publication, even the description "urban ale" was used. Consumers of these beers were described as constituting an "inner-urban market", "urban hipsters" and "urban beer lovers". They were also described as part of the "urban brewery scene". The evidence showed that tour providers in Australia offered "urban beer" tours. Restaurants and bars in Australia, with a focus on beer, incorporated "urban" into their names.
70 Having considered the evidence to which we were taken, we are satisfied that the primary judge's findings as to the descriptive and laudatory meaning of the word "urban" in relation to beer were open to him. We do not see any appealable error in his Honour's fact-finding. There is, therefore, no basis on which we should interfere with those findings.
71 The corollary of the primary judge's findings is that the meaning of "urban ale", when used in relation to beer, is not allusive or metaphorical (as the appellant contended them to be). His Honour so found at [141]. As his Honour put it, the evidence established that the word "urban", in its relevant context, has a tangible meaning - beer produced in an inner-city craft brewery. Had the primary judge found that the Word Mark was an allusive or metaphorical use of the words "urban ale" then this would have indicated that the mark was inherently adapted, or at least inherently adapted to some extent, to distinguish the appellant's beer from the beer of other traders.
72 To support the validity of the Word Mark, the appellant submitted that, contrary to his own understanding, the primary judge had in fact adopted an "allusive or metaphorical approach" by commenting that, within a certain segment of the market, beer produced in an inner city location is regarded as "cool" or "trendy" (or as we have also noted, "fashionable"), and thus attractive for that reason. As we understand it, the denouement of this submission is that this approach by the primary judge reveals that the words "urban ale", when used in relation to beer, do not have a sufficiently clear or direct meaning so as to function descriptively and thus deny the Word Mark registrability.
73 We do not accept that submission. It is important to recognise that, on the primary judge's reasoning, these particular sentiments proceeded from the very fact that the segment of the market to which his Honour referred understood that, when applied to beer, the word "urban" had the tangible, descriptive meaning which his Honour found. Thus, these sentiments spoke of an appreciation of beer because the word "urban" functioned descriptively to identify the beer as a craft beer brewed in an inner-city location. Given that these sentiments were invoked because of the descriptive use of the word "urban", the primary judge regarded that use as also laudatory in character.
74 We see no error in his Honour's conclusion in that regard. Marks functioning as laudatory epithets, according to their ordinary signification when applied adjectivally to particular goods or services, have typically been regarded as not inherently adapted to distinguish those goods or services.
75 For example, in In re Joseph Crosfield & Sons, Limited [1910] 1 Ch 130, Cozens-Hardy M.R. observed that there are some words which are incapable of being adapted to distinguish, such as "good", "best" and "superfine". He said (at 142):
… an ordinary laudatory epithet ought to be open to all the world and is not, in my opinion, capable of being registered. It may be that within a particular area the applicant might succeed in a passing-off action against a trader who used the epithet without sufficiently distinguishing his goods from the goods of the applicant. But that would not justify the Court in giving the applicant a monopoly throughout the United Kingdom in the use of a laudatory epithet.
76 In that case, it was held that the word "Perfection" could not be registered for "common or household soap" because, in relation to those goods, the word functioned as a laudatory epithet.
77 Another example is provided by Burger King Corporation v Registrar of Trade Marks (1973) 128 CLR 417, where Gibbs J held that the word "Whopper", when applied to hamburgers, was not inherently adapted to distinguish. His Honour found (at 425) that, in that context, the word described one of the characteristics of a hamburger - its size. His Honour found that the word was also laudatory - a person buying a hamburger might be expected to feel that he or she would get more satisfaction or better value for money from "a large rather than a small one".
78 Once one accepts the primary judge's findings of fact, the basis for his Honour's conclusion that the Word Mark was not to any extent inherently adapted to distinguish the appellant's beer is clear and sustainable.
79 We turn to another argument advanced by the appellant. As we have noted, the primary judge found that the combination "urban ale" did not have significance in terms of the style or flavour of beer beyond what is ordinarily conveyed by the word "ale". The appellant advanced this finding as establishing, contrary to his Honour's finding, that the Word Mark must be inherently adapted to distinguish its beer from the beer of other traders.
80 In advancing this submission, the appellant relied on Note 1 appearing after s 41(4) of the Act, which provides:
Note 1: Trade marks that are not inherently adapted to distinguish goods or services are mostly trade marks that consist wholly of a sign that is ordinarily used to indicate:
(a) the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, or some other characteristic, of goods or services; or
(b) the time of production of goods or of the rendering of services.
81 The appellant submitted that the note provides "useful guidance" on whether a trade mark is inherently adapted to distinguish designated goods or services. The appellant then submitted that, having regard to the note, the word "urban" does not describe "any relevant characteristic" attributable to beer.
82 The Reader's Guide in the published version of the Act makes clear that its notes are facilitative rather than interpretative:
Notes:
Notes are to be found throughout the text. They are designed to help you find your way through the Act. They may tell you that certain words or terms are defined and where to find the definition; they may alert you to other provisions in this Act and in other legislation that are relevant to the text you are reading; or they may draw your attention to information that may help you to understand the contents or legal consequences of certain provisions or how to comply with them.
83 Further, Note 1 itself makes clear that it is not, in any event, an exhaustive statement of the circumstances in which a mark will not be inherently adapted to distinguish.
84 Even so, recourse to the note (as it appeared in previous versions of s 41) has been made in other cases as an aid to the provision's interpretation: see the useful collection of cases identified in [25.575] of Shanahan's Australian Law of Trade Marks and Passing Off (Thomson Reuters, 6th ed, 2016).
85 We are not persuaded that the appellant's recourse to Note 1 advances this ground of appeal. By framing its submission so as to refer to "any relevant characteristic", the appellant seeks to confine attention to only those characteristics of beer that concern its style and flavour. This posits too narrow a focus for the word "characteristic". No doubt the style and flavour of beer are among its "characteristics". However, we are satisfied that a beer's "characteristics" as "goods" can encompass other attributes, including the fact that the beer is a craft beer brewed in an inner-city location.
86 On the primary judge's findings of fact, it can be seen that other beer, as "goods", will share this characteristic and that other traders would seek to use, without improper motive, the word "urban" to describe this characteristic in relation to their own goods (beer) having this characteristic. The combination "urban ale" is simply a more specific exemplification of that use.
87 In a related submission, the appellant submitted that the primary judge did not address in terms the question whether other traders might legitimately wish to use the word "urban" in relation to beer. We think it is tolerably clear from his Honour's summary of the evidence of the use of "urban" in relation to beer, at [78]-[110] of the reasons, that this consideration was within his Honour's contemplation and that, at least implicitly, his Honour was satisfied that such use was not only in prospect but already occurring.
88 For these reasons, Ground 2 of the appeal should be dismissed.
89 This conclusion is enough to dispose of the whole appeal because once invalidity of the Word Mark's registration is established, the appellant's case on infringement cannot be established and the respondent's defences to infringement do not arise for consideration.