Colorado unsuccessful in trademark stoush

NATIONAL: Clothing and footwear brand Colorado has failed in its bid to prevent handbag retailer Strandbags from using the name Colorado on its bags and wallets.

The legal dispute, which has been drudged through Australian courts for over three years, came to a head yesterday when the Federal Court announced Colorado could not extend its trademark to handbags, wallets and purses.

According to Fairfax newspapers the appeal court said although Colorado had proved it first used the word on its backpacks 25 years ago, this did not mean it could claim ownership across all accessory categories.

However, Colorado was successful in defending its trademark of the brand for backpacks against Strandbags or any other retailer which attempted to sell those products under the Colorado name.

The dispute was first launched by Colorado when it was a listed company under Venator Group, the US's biggest footwear seller. In July, it was bought by a private equity firm, Affinity Equity Partners for $4550 and included the sale of brands Mathers, Williams the Shoeman, Diana Ferrari and JAG.

Colorado operates more than 110 stores across Australia and New Zealand while Strandbags has more than 200 stores.