Catch sues Kogan over trade mark infringement

natihTwo of Australia’s leading online retailers by revenue, Catch Group and Kogan.com, are locked in a legal dispute over efforts to sell cheap mobile phone plans.

Inside Retail can confirm that Catch Group last week filed an application for relief in the Federal Court of Australia, accusing Kogan of infringing on its trade mark.

Catch in February launched Catch Connect, a new vertical that offers cheap prepaid mobile phone plans in partnership with Optus.

The move put it in direct competition with Kogan, which has been offering mobile phone plans to customers through a partnership with Vodafone since 2015.

According to a statement from Catch, Kogan acquired the licence to the domain name ‘catchmobile.com.au’ amongst others and applied for several trade mark applications that incorporate the word ‘Catch’, apparently in an effort to redirect customers who use the search term ‘Catch’ to its own offerings.

Catch sells its mobile services under the domain name ‘catchconnect.com.au’.

Kogan declined to answer questions for this story.

“Almost everyone knows who Catch is, and we have worked hard to deliver a market leading phone plan offering for consumers,” Catch Group CEO Nati Harpaz said in a statement shared with Inside Retail today.

“Nearly one in seven Australians have shopped with us since 2006, and our customer base only continues to grow,” he added.

According to the statement, Catch has accepted voluntary undertakings from Kogan to cease using the ‘catchmobile.com.au’ domain and any disputed ‘Catch’ brand terms, pending determination of proceedings.

It is seeking to restrain Kogan from using any sign, which it considers infringes its intellectual property rights.

Kogan has been contacted for comment.

More to come.

Nati Harpaz is the chairman of Octomedia, Inside Retail’s publisher.

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