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Major US Television Production Company settles
Trade Mark Infringement Action with Aussie Band

Berrigan Doube Lawyers recently acted for a South Australian based band in a trade mark action against a major US Television Production Company (US Company).  The US Company is responsible for many award winning productions and is a household name in Australia.

In a dispute that lasted only 2 months, Berrigan Doube Lawyers claimed on behalf of our client that the US Company was infringing upon 3 trade marks which were filed by our client in April 2005.  Our client has spent significant time and resources to develop the trade marks and was a well known band in the Australian music industry.  The band was made up of professional musicians, many of whom taught at some of the most prestigious educational institutions in Australia.

Over the course of several weeks, Berrigan Doube Lawyers were in constant negotiations with the US Company and its legal team.  We threatened to issue injunctive proceedings to have the television production in Australia taken off air until the matter was resolved.  This would have caused significant problems for the US Company who had a commercial deal with an Australian TV Station.  Such injunctive action, if successful, would have caused severe disruption to the Australian TV Station and resulted in a significant loss of profits for the US Company.

Despite our threats, it was the goal of both parties to achieve an amicable resolution without proceedings being issued.  In the end, despite not admitting any liability for infringing our client’s trade mark, the US Company agreed to pay a significant lump sum compensation to our client and ongoing royalties for their use of the trade mark.  In exchange, our client signed a license agreement for the US Company to use the trade mark in Australia under limited circumstances.