Dick Smith said he had invested considerable cost and effort to develop the OzEmite product.

Dick Smith to appeal OzEmite ruling

18 March 2014

OzEmite will remain on the retail shelves for a while longer while its maker, Dick Smith, appeals a recent IP Australia decision to remove the trade mark registration of the yeast extract.

The appeal was this week filed in the Federal Court of Australia, and follows the successful application for removal by Roger Ramsey, owner of the AussieMite trademark.

While the case is heard, the OzEmite trade mark will remain registered and OzEmite will remain on supermarket shelves.

Dick Smith said he had invested considerable cost and effort to develop the OzEmite product since October 1999.

“Approximately one year after I announced the name OzEmite, Roger Ramsey changed the name of his product from Dinky Di-Nemite to AussieMite, in what I believe was an attempt to misappropriate the reputation in my product and confuse consumers. The Federal Court will be asked to prevent this from happening,” he said.

Mark O’Brien of Johnson, Winter & Slattery, Lawyer for Dick Smith, said he expected the case to be heard later this year.