South Australian council wins legal battle with Tourism WA over ‘dark sky’ trademark application

A dispute between South Australia’s Mid Murray Council and the WA Tourism Commission over the latter’s attempt to trademark the term ‘dark sky’ has ended after the Commission withdrew its application.

Tourism WA, which staged its Dark Sky Festival in 2023, had wanted to trademark the term, but Mid Murray Council opposed the application, fearing it could impact its own River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve.

As reported by the ABC, the almost year-long legal fight has come to an end after Tourism WA’s application was officially abandoned earlier this month.

However, Mid Murray Council will not recover the $30,000 it spent in legal fees as it says it will not seek to recoup costs from Tourism WA.

The Mid Murray Council, which has a population of just under 10,000 people, is home to the River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve - one of 21 reserves of its kind around the globe - which was the first in Australia to receive the international accreditation in 2019.

Tourism WA lodged its trademark application in February last year after holding its inaugural Dark Sky Festival, which coincided with the total solar eclipse, and had almost 15,000 visitors attend celebrations at Coral Bay, Exmouth and Onslow in the state's north-west.

But when Mid Murray Landcare SA Chairperson Chris Tugwell - who was behind efforts to get the dark sky reserve globally recognised - saw the request, he was "concerned" about the impacts it would have on dark sky communities around Australia.

Tugwell told the ABC “there are groups all over the country in fact, and even around the world, where they use the expression 'dark sky festival'.

"The dark sky movement is very much a collaborative kind of movement and so we want to support and help other groups.

"We don't want to say, 'This is mine, you can't do that', so we saw it as an obstacle to what we were trying to achieve.”

Mid Murray Council Mayor, Simone Bailey said she didn't understand why Tourism WA was trying to trademark "such an open name".

She said that while she was pleased the application had been withdrawn, it was disappointing council had to spend money on legal fees.

Mayo Bailey noted “that sort of money could have gone to us doing a code amendment to protect our dark sky, so it was just disappointing that the time and the money that had to be involved to have them withdraw at that point.”

In a statement to the ABC, Tourism WA said it had explored the trademark application after the success of its 2023 event, which saw millions of dollars injected into its regional economies.

The statement advised “given this resounding success and future dark sky tourism opportunities, we continue to explore how we can leverage our state's assets and strength in this space.

"This included looking at a potential trademark for the name 'Dark Sky Festival' to activate for future potential events.

"This was discontinued once advice was received that it wasn't necessary to deliver future events using this branding."

Image: The River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve is one of the darkest places in the world. Credit: River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve.