Case: Campomar Sociedad, Limitada v Nike International Ltd [2000] HCA 12 ; (2000) 202 CLR 45
Outcome: cited
The relevant legal principles have been well traversed by Australian courts. A two-step analysis is required. First, it is necessary to ask whether each or any of the pleaded representations is conveyed by the particular events complained of: Campomar Sociedad, Limitada v Nike International Ltd [2000] HCA 12 ; (2000) 202 CLR 45 at [105] ; National Exchange Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission [2004] ATPR 42-000 at [18] per Dowsett J (with whom Jacobson and Bennett JJ agreed) and Astrazeneca Pty Ltd v GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd [2006] ATPR 42-106 at [37]. That is, do the 12 Events singularly or collectively convey either of the Coverage Representations and do the 3 Events singularly or collectively convey the CDMA Comparison Representation. 16 Because the conduct complained of in the present matter was not directed at a specific individual both questions that have been identified must be considered by reference to the class or classes of consumers likely to be affected by the conduct: Parkdale Custom Built Furniture Pty Ltd v Puxu Pty Ltd [1982] HCA 44 ; (1982) 149 CLR 191 at 199 per Gibbs CJ; Nike at [102], [103], [105] and [106]; Butcher v Lachlan Elder Realty Pty Ltd [2004] HCA 60 ; (2004) 218 CLR 592 at [36] per Gleeson CJ, Hayne and Heydon JJ. 17 In .au Domain Administration Ltd v Domain Names Australia Pty Ltd (2004) 207 ALR 521 at [12]-[26] Finkelstein J provided a useful summary of the approach that might be taken where a court is required to assess conduct by reference to a specific class or classes of consumers and did that by particular reference to Taco Co of Australia Inc v Taco Bell Pty Ltd (1982) 42 ALR 177 at 202-203 per Deane and Fitzgerald JJ and Nike at [100]-[103]. The approach may be summarised in six points, as follows: (1) first, identify the relevant section or sections of the public by reference to which the issue is to be tested. The target section or sections of the public would, of course, vary according to the facts of each case: Parkdale at 209 per Mason J; Finucane v New South Wales Egg Corp (1988) 80 ALR 486 at 516. The relevant section or sections of the public may be confined by factors such as the time period over which the alleged representations were made and the geographical circulation of the advertisements containing the alleged representations. (For an example of geographical circulation defining the relevant test section, see Talmax Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [1997] 2 Qd R 444 at 446); (2) second, having identified the relevant section or sections of the public, consider who comes within that section or those sections. This may include the astute and the gullible, the intelligent and the not so intelligent, the well educated and the poorly educated: see also Parkdale at 199 per Gibbs CJ; (3) third, it is permissible, but not essential, to have regard to evidence that some person has in fact been misled, though this evidence will not be conclusive; (4) fourth, it is necessary to enquire whether any proven misconception has arisen because of the misleading or deceptive conduct; (5) fifth, where the persons alleged to have been misled are members of a class, it is necessary to isolate a representative member of the class and enquire whether that hypothetical person is likely to be deceived; (6) sixth, when considering the likely effect of the misrepresentation on this hypothetical person, he or she should be judged as an "ordinary" or "reasonable" member of the class, excluding reactions to the representation that are "extreme" or "fanciful".