Wrays

A 17-year-old error that removed industrial filter manufacturer Vokes as the registered owner of its trade marks was at the centre of a Federal Court appeal hearing Tuesday over the extent of a Registrar’s discretion to correct mistakes.

The official exporter of crystal from the Czech Republic has lost a battle with an Australian catering company over the exclusive rights to the name Bohemia Crystal.

It warned offenders, and then it won its first case. Now with the one-year anniversary of laws protecting small businesses from unfair contracts ticking over, expect the consumer regulator to take no prisoners, lawyers say.