David Ousts Goliath

The problem with the name “Community Bank” is that that’s what mutuals have been since they were founded. We have been the community bank of police, nurses, teachers, defence, Wollongong, Northern Beaches, Sutherland Shire, Illawarra, Shoalhaven, regional Queensland, regional New South Wales, regional everywhere …  So there’s nothing new in the concept, but Bendigo managed to somehow register a trademark in the early 2000s for a Bendigo Bank branch …  John Tancevski, former Community First Bank CEO.

The above quote was made by John Tancevski in our recent oral history interview with him. Among the many phases of his career (which we will bring you later) the above episode concerns Community First Credit Union’s (as it was at the time) victory over Bendigo Bank regarding the trade marked use of the term “Community Bank”.

It’s such a good and important story, it’s worth revisiting.  It began with Bendigo and Adeliade Bank registering trade marks featuring the term “Community Bank” in 1999. In 2013, Community First Credit Union attempted to register the company names “Community First Bank” and “Community First Mutual Bank” but were blocked by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s trademark.

Community First took the matter to court, challenging the validity of Bendigo and Adelaide’s registrations. It argued that “Community Bank” is directly descriptive of the services provided by the bank and therefore ineligible for registration under the Trade Marks Act 1959.

The matter was finally resolved on appeal in the Federal Court in 2021 in favour of Community First as it was ruled that both parties may use the term but “Community Bank” has been removed from the Register of Trade Marks.