Car giant leaps to defend jump advert

Published on Monday 6 August 2007 00:58

JUMP for joy? Not if it's trademarked. The car giant Toyota is considering suing an Australian airline for using a particular style of jump in its advertising.

Toyota has trademarked its "Oh, what a feeling!" leap, representing delighted customers, and the two-bar jingle that goes with it for Australian advertising.

Now Jetstar, a budget airline, has also featured an ecstatic jump in its own advertising, showing the joy to be experienced from taking a budget holiday in a destination such as Bali.

Toyota's lawyers are examining the Jetstar adverts to see if the company's trademark rights have been violated.

The question appears to be whether using a specific body gesture which is part of someone else's branding can be viewed as theft of intellectual property.

Peter Evans, a spokesman for Toyota, said: "Someone has executed a jump that's not dissimilar to ours and it would be remiss of us to ensure that our brand isn't properly protected."

"It's just a question of whether their jump is too close to ours. We are looking at it. Our media budget is reasonably large so we would be silly not to make sure that that investment is maximised."

Jetstar's adverts include posters for trips to Bali which feature a woman jumping for joy on a beach.

A spokeswoman for the airline said it had received no official complaint from Toyota.

Russell Waters, a trademark expert at the Australia law firm Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick, said Toyota may have a case.

"Assuming all of the actors jump in the same way, in principle I think that would be something they could get protection for," he said.