The Federal Court held that a trademark application for TRIBAL CHOCOLATE for hair products was confusing with an earlier TRIBAL registration for hair colourants and dyes. The Court found the applicant’s state of the register evidence to be insufficient because it involved only three relevant marks and no evidence of actual use of the marks was filed. Further, the Court implicitly agreed with the Registrar of Trademarks that a co-existence agreement between the applicant and opponent was not determinative as it “only [provides] contractual protection between the parties.” In the result, the Federal Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal.
