Challenger declares war over words with Judo

George Lekakis

Diversified financial services group, Challenger Limited, is going to war against small business lending specialist Judo Bank over the latter’s attempt to use the word “challenger” in its branding.

Challenger last week hired Minter Ellison partner John Fairbairn to lead its opposition against an already approved trademark that permits Judo to market itself as “Australia’s first SME-focused challenger bank”.

Challenger, which last month re-branded its MyLife MyFinance banking subsidiary to “Challenger Bank”, is preparing to take on Judo and the major banks in the small business and corporate lending markets.

Challenger Bank chief executive Mark Ellis told an investor briefing in May that he planned to launch business lending products in Australia later this year.

The bank is also developing a non-bank business lending arm through a partnership with US alternative asset manager, Apollo Global Asset Management.

Fairbairn notified IP Australia of Challenger’s intention to oppose the Judo claim on 15 July.

Judo originally lodged an application to use the word “challenger” in its branding in December last year and was granted approval from the trademark regulator in May.

IP Australia has opened a process to hear the dispute, with Challenger required to lodge documents showing grounds for its opposition by the middle of August.

Judo has enlisted Anisimoff Legal to defend its claim.

The frequency of trademark disputes in the banking industry has increased in recent years, with the Federal Court being asked to adjudicate on the rights of banks to hold monopolies over the use of commonly used words in their branding.

In 2021 Bendigo and Adelaide Bank lost its exclusive claim to the commercial use of “community bank” after the Full Federal Court accepted applications from Community First Credit Union to use the words in its trademarks.