Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The laws of copyright are complicated and fraught with peril. They are particularly difficult if you are a small regional business up against a multinational corporation. This is the kind of David and Goliath battle that a small, family-run, olive oil producer from Margaret River now faces. Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Ltd is the Goliath in this conflict. They are seeking to stand on Vasse Virgin, an olive oil maker in Western Australia's Margaret River district that produces condiments and skincare products. Virgin Enterprises Ltd manages and protects the Virgin trademark. But I wonder if that really means they have a total monopoly over the word 'virgin'.

The owners of Vasse Virgin, Edwin and Louis Scherini, recently attempted to reregister their brand and extend it to a broader product range. However, the Virgin Group has objected to the application, apparently claiming the right to exclusive use of the word 'virgin'. Virgin Group's manager of Asia-Pacific branding, public relations and digital communications, Elizabeth Gain, has said that the trademark application 'covers a very broad range of goods and services, some of which fall squarely into the core activities of the Virgin Group—in particular, transportation services.' They argue that the continued use of the name 'Vasse Virgin' would cause confusion in the market and that people may assume a connection between Vasse Virgin and the Virgin Group. However, the Vasse Virgin expansion does not actually include an airline, and I do not think they intend to run visits to space from Margaret River. Perhaps Richard Branson wants to go into the olive oil business and does not want to compete for the name on that basis.

Apparently, the contentious part of the application by the Scherini family is that they plan to give visitors tours of their olive oil farm and the workshops in which they process the olives and make olive oil and skincare products. Somehow this might be interpreted as transportation services. Logically, is riding around the farm on a trailer behind a tractor really such a threat to a global airline that consumers might not be able to tell the difference? Well, if that is the case, instead of perhaps flying by Virgin Airlines to the South West or to Western Australia and visiting our fabulous part of the world and the famous Margaret River region, it would mean a really long, slow journey on that trailer behind that tractor, and imagine trying to cross the Nullarbor. Maybe there are a lot of implications for Mr Branson and his group in trying to restrict the use of the word 'virgin'. If you look historically and even currently, there are a number of ways that this is used. Maybe the Virgin Islands might have to change their name, or Queen Elizabeth I will have to have a new nickname. If you look at the state of Virginia, which was named after Elizabeth I, I think there could be a range of instances where it falls foul of the trademark laws as well.

But I would really like to hope that common sense prevails. This to me is just extraordinary. This is David and Goliath. I would encourage Virgin Enterprises to see reason. This is a fabulous little company in my part of the world. Perhaps, when the Busselton airport is upgraded at some stage in the future and it does take interstate flights and Virgin Enterprises might choose to fly into that place, they will be bringing people who will want to go to Vasse Virgin and sample some of their fabulous products. They are a key part of the tourist offering that we have in our region, yet we have this David and Goliath situation.

It really does concern me that it could possibly come to this. Louis and Edwina started out just finding a way of dealing with their daughter's eczema. They started with a bucket and a wooden spoon, and they have built a wonderful local business in my part of the world, in Margaret River. It really does appal me that this is what it has got to: that someone like Richard Branson is seeking exclusive use of the word 'virgin' and this little company is in trouble.