SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - 30 SEPT 2019 : Optus retail shop in the city
Ahh, what a time it’s been, and what a bucket load of money some lawyers made in the last few months after Optus made a boo boo in naming one of their customer products.
Look, I don’t want to say I called it – but, I called it. The day I got the announcement from Optus that they were launching a product to allow customers to get faster speeds for a limited time on their mobile and NBN products I knew it was a problem.
The issue was, Optus was calling this “Mobile Boost” and well, as I said in my article, there’s a telco called Boost Mobile.
Didn’t take long for Boost to get grumpy and take Optus to court. 24 hours in fact.
Less than a month later, I sat through a day of court proceedings in which Boost Mobile lawyers argued that Optus should immediately stop using the Boost name ahead of a longer court case to rule over the issue and any damages.
Optus lost that, and frankly, it was a bit embarrassing.
Today, the parties mutually agreed to move on, announcing in a joint statement that “Boost Tel Pty Limited and Singtel Optus Pty Limited have resolved their dispute concerning Boost Tel’s BOOST trade marks. Boost Tel had alleged that the launch of new tools by Optus under the names ‘Optus Internet Boost’ and ‘Optus Mobile Boost’ was an infringement of its trade mark rights. The matter was due to be heard in the Federal Court on 20 June 2023. Optus denies it engaged in any trade mark infringement but for commercial reasons it has decided to relaunch these tools under different names. The terms of settlement are confidential.”
I’m not a lawyer, but I’d speculate that Optus paid the Boost legal fees knowing they had buckley’s chance of winning. But that’s just my observation from the single day in court.
Whatever the case, the Optus “Living Network” is now alive again with a new “Turbocharge” product offering Optus customers a shot in the arm for their mobile or broadband speeds for a small fee.
As for the marketing fee for Optus, how about a lifetime connection fee for Two Blokes Talking Tech loyal listener Dom Dahl:
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts several popular podcasts, EFTM, Two Blokes Talking Tech, Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, and the Private Feed. He is the resident tech expert for Triple M on radio across Australia, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show and appears regularly on 9 News, A Current Affair and Sky News Early Edition.
Father of three, he is often found in his Man Cave.
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