Aussie sports travel company wins legal battle against $50b US giant
A company in which hip-hop icon Jay Z invested in was found to have infringed on trademarks owned by an Australian company after a long legal battle in the Australian Federal Court.
The USD$31 billion company, Fanatics LLC, was determined to have violated the FANATICS trademarks, an Aussie-owned sports travel company.
The ruling marks a significant development in the long-running dispute dating back to 2010 between the two entities.
FANATICS owner Warren Livingstone, who established the company in 1997, was ecstatic to hear Judge Justice Rofe’s decision in his favour.
Livingstone said in a statement on Thursday: “In 2010 – 13 years after we started – and out of the blue, I was faced with my first trademark battle from an American company who had previously claimed to have operated as Fanatics in Australia and operated a website at Fanatics.com since 1998.
“I knew that was incorrect because I had, in fact, been in negotiations to buy the same domain all the way to Nov 2009. I called them out on that incorrect claim in 3 previous trademark office disputes.”
Livingstone said he made the decision to take legal action to “get to the truth”.
“This was an absolute David vs Goliath battle,” he said.
“The Federal Court case was long, expensive & exhaustive. But the court provided us the opportunity to confirm that Fanatics LLC’s first use was in 2010/2011, not the 1998 date that they had said.”
Warren Livingstone (credit: Nine)
Justice Rofe granted an injunction effective from July 24, which permanently restrains the American company from using Livingstone’s company’s FANATICS trademarks or anything similar for clothing, headwear, sportswear, and other related goods and services.
On the verdict, Livingstone said: “It’s a comprehensive victory for us today. It has been a long battle. Obviously, Fanatics LLC has deep pockets and threw everything at it but, in the end, the truth was at the forefront of the decision. We thank the Australian legal system for that.”
Fanatics LLC also had a number of their Australian trademarks cancelled in the landmark case, which will make the expansion of the multi-billion dollar company into Australia more difficult.
“This really is a vindication of the 27 years that we have operated and invested in this market. It shows that a $31 billion company can’t come and bully their way into a market and disregard existing trademarks.”
To celebrate the outcome, Livingstone intends to sink a “few quiet beers”.
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