Aussie telco Boost Mobile has successfully won an injunction forcing competitor Optus to cease using its brand name in a pair of new products, following an expedited Federal Court hearing on Monday.
Boost came out swinging at the announcement of two new Optus products, Internet Boost and Mobile Boost, claiming its rival was attempting to “trade off our valuable Boost brand”.
Optus disagreed, saying that it didn’t think “any customer could confuse Boost Telecom with Optus” – but that’s not the opinion of Federal Court judge Tom Thawley who, in a lengthy judgement handed down on Tuesday, granted the injunction ordering Optus to temporarily stop the use of ‘Boost’ in its branding.
Peter Adderton, founder of Boost Mobile, said his company “appreciate[s] the judge respecting the urgency of this issue”.
“I hope Optus is realising that this is not a fight worth fighting such that they agree to move on and find a new word to describe its products,” he said.
Optus, on the other hand, remains optimistic it can convince a full Federal Court hearing that no one would be tricked by its branding decision.
“We continue to believe that no customer will be confused into thinking these features of the Optus Living Network are being supplied by or are affiliated with Boost Mobile,” a spokesperson told Information Age.
“We look forward to the case being fully heard and determined by the Federal Court as soon as possible.”
Optus’s ‘Boost’ products, aside from their controversial names, give customers the option to increase temporarily increase their internet speeds.
For $5, Optus NBN customers can access a higher broadband tier for 24 hours, while mobile customers can spend $2 per hour for the faster speeds.
Just don't call it a boost.
