TENACIOUS should be Paul Ballinger\u2019s middle name.<\/p>\n
As owner of Ballarat business, Real Estate Home Loans, he took on the corporate juggernaut REA Group over a trade mark infringement and won.<\/p>\n
REA Group, better known as realestate.com.au, promotes itself as a leading global digital business, specialising in property.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a small regional based company and they are a $14 billion ASX listed company, so it was a lot like David and Goliath,\u201d Mr Ballinger said. \u201cWe registered our trademark, which is our logo with our wording, when we opened for business in 2000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought that was enough to protect us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ballinger checks the trademark data base on the IP Australia website, the Federal government agency that administers intellectual property rights and legislation, every three months.<\/p>\n
He said it takes five minutes and does it regularly because, \u201cNo one is going to tell you your trade mark is being infringed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three to four years after starting the business Mr Ballinger became aware the REA Group had tried to trade mark realestate.com.au\/home loans a number of times and had the request declined by IP Australia.<\/p>\n
However in April 2017 he was alerted that the REA Group\u2019s realestate.com.au\/home loans trade mark application had been accepted.<\/p>\n
For the next two years he spent tens of thousands of dollars defending Real Estate Home Loans, REHL, trade mark.<\/p>\n
IP Australia statistics show that two per cent of trade mark acceptances are opposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were one of a small minority [of businesses] that actually got their opposition upheld,\u201d Mr Ballinger said.<\/p>\n
When REA Group had the best Collins Street lawyers defending their case, REHL engaged Davies Collison Cave, Australia’s premier intellectual property practice.<\/p>\n
Mr Ballinger said he wanted to fight on an equal footing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall business owners often think it costs way too much money and takes way too much time, so they let it go,\u201d he said. \u201cIt controlled a lot of my head space for two years, but I knew we had to stick to our guns.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the outset I believed we had a great case, and I had to protect our brand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intimidating part of the process was the language their lawyers used. They wanted us to think that we were fighting a losing cause, but I don\u2019t scare easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
REHL\u2019s customer range for advertising and marketing is approximately 140,000 people, while REA conducts their marketing Australia wide.<\/p>\n
At the time of the trade mark battle REHL had been in the home loan business for 20 years and REA had only entered the sector two years before.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t walk away from a fight, I stand up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When IP Australia upheld REHL\u2019s opposition Mr Ballinger chose to purchase every URL that contains the words real estate home loans.<\/p>\n
REHL now owns about 40 to 50 websites addresses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe annual expense is worth it to protect our brand, our name and our business,\u201d he said. \u201cThis business is not about the mortgage. It is about the hopes and dreams that people carry with them of property ownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mortgage is the mechanism by which you realise that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis it the culture of our business, assisting people to achieve their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TENACIOUS should be Paul Ballinger\u2019s middle name. As owner of Ballarat business, Real Estate Home Loans, he took on the corporate juggernaut REA Group over a trade mark infringement and won. REA Group, better known as realestate.com.au, promotes itself as a leading global digital business, specialising in property. \u201cWe are a small regional based company […]<\/p>\n