‘ PASSING OFF’
Zoe Van Mill of Flat Out International told us her story in hopes it would raise awareness of the issue of‘ passing off’, and offer a potential blueprint for other companies whose products may be facing similar market confusion.
First, what is‘ passing off’? Under Australian law, businesses may be protected against situations where another company presents a product or brand in a way that could create confusion with an established brand identity. It is designed to protect a company’ s long-standing goodwill if a new product is presented in a way that may lead consumers to believe it is associated with another brand, thereby causing confusion for the consumer and harm to the original brand or company.
This brings us to the situation that Flat Out International faced when about a year ago, Zoe Van Mill, the company owner and director, was alerted by acquaintances to a product that had entered the Australian market that, in Flat Out’ s view, looked remarkably similar to Flat Out’ s products.
Flat Out is known for its lay-flat sullage hoses, flat drinking water hoses and electrical leads that are designed to wind effortlessly onto Flat Out’ s well-known Multi-Reel. These products have been an indispensable companion for thousands of people travelling the country for more than 25 years.
“ In photographs and from a fronton in-person view, it was nearly impossible to distinguish this new product from ours,” Zoe told GoRV.“ However, upon closer inspection, we found significant differences.”
Flat Out raised concerns about the visual similarity between its original Multi-Reel system( blue) and another product that entered the market( green).
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