In a landmark ruling, the high court in Australia have announced that, by the end of this year, cigarette manufacturers there will have to brand and sell tobacco products in plain green packets, with their brand name in a tiny generic font.
British American Tobacco (BAT, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco) had all challenged the law, claiming that they extinguished the companies’ intellectual property rights, but the court found that Australia’s laws were legal and did not breach trademark rights.
The governments of Britain, Norway, New Zealand, Canada and India have been anticipating the ruling, as they have all said that they are considering similar measures.
Following the ruling, tobacco companies are worried that the law will set a global precedent which could slash billions of dollars from the value of their brands, as apart from only being able to be sold in the generic packets, the covers will be logo-free and feature graphic health warnings and gruesome images such as sightless eyes and cancer-riddled mouths.
Lawyers for the tobacco giants’ have argued in court that the new rules violate intellectual property rights, devalue their trademarks and that the government would unfairly benefit from the law by using cigarette packs as a platform to promote its own message, without compensating the tobacco companies.
Under Australian law, the government can only acquire the property of others on “just terms”, but the Canberra-based court ruled that the law, due to come into effect on December 1 would not breach the constitution, adding that it would outline its full reasoning at a later date.
“Big tobacco will be thunderstruck by the ruling,” said Matthew Rimmer, an intellectual property and trademark law expert at Australia National University, because it potentially dents the appeal of some best-established cigarette brands. “There has been a lot of bluster and scaremongering by the tobacco industry. That bluster has been undone.”
For more information about intellectual property law, speak to our solicitor Chloe Bunn.