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Two of Australia's leading e-tailers have taken their dispute to the courts, with Catch Group suing major competitor Kogan (ASX: KGN) over trademark infringement.
As reported by Lawyerly, Catch Group has alleged that Kogan violated its "catch" trademarks and consumer law through its sponsored links on Google which used the word "catch".
The statement of claim, lodged by Catch Group, says Kogan intentionally used the word "catch" to misrepresent Kogan's products as Catch's.
"A search of Google for 'Catch Connect', 'Catch Mobile' or 'Catch Mobile Plans' resulted in the identification of a sponsored link to the Kogan Catch Mobile Demand, which was sponsored by one or more of the respondents," says the statement of claim.
Catch holds a number of trademarks over the use of the word "catch" as a "dominant cognitive clue".
Additionally, Kogan recently registered a site called catchmobile.com.au and has used it to sell its phone related products and services. Kogan registered this site in May 2018, after Catch partnered with Optus in February 2018 to launch Catch Connect, a mobile phone product, using the domain catchconnect.com.au. Kogan has been offering its own mobile plans to customers via Vodafone since 2015.
The allegations also detail how Kogan sought to trademark the terms 'Catch Mobile', 'Catch A Mobile Deal', 'catchmobile.com.au', 'catch insurance', 'catchinsurance.com.au', 'Catch Loans', 'Catch' and 'Catch by Kogan'.
Catch is seeking damages for the alleged violations of consumer law and passing off as well as an order for Kogan to cancel its registered websites and its trademark applications.
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