18 February 2026
In late 2025, a branding decision between two gift card businesses — Prezzee and Epay Australia — escalated into an urgent Federal Court injunction.
The takeaway for Australian businesses is blunt:
even minor brand references can carry major IP risk.
What happened
Prezzee operates a well-established digital gift card platform in Australia and owns multiple registered trade marks for PREZZEE.
Epay Australia, which operates gift card products under the Giftzzy brand, launched a new physical and digital card in Australia using the phrase:
“Powered by Prezzy Card”
Epay’s position was that the wording referenced its successful New Zealand product and was not intended to trade off Prezzee’s reputation.
The court wasn’t persuaded.
Why it became a problem
The phrase appeared:
- on the face of physical gift cards
- in marketing materials
- across social media
Even though it was smaller and secondary, the court found there was a serious issue to be tried as to whether “Prezzy” was being used as a trade mark in Australia in a way that could cause confusion with Prezzee.
By the time the dispute reached court:
250,000 cards had already been printed and distributed
Tens of thousands remained unsold across 1,800+ retail outlets
The result
The Federal Court granted an interlocutory injunction, requiring Epay to:
- stop using the wording immediately
- contact retailers
- disable card activations where possible
- physically retrieve remaining cards
This all happened before a final decision on infringement — purely on risk.
The commercial reality
This wasn’t a logo copy.
It wasn’t a brand takeover.
It was a late-stage naming and marketing decision that hadn’t been properly cleared.
Once stock is printed, retailers are involved, and consumers are buying — IP mistakes become expensive, fast.
The IP Solved view
Brand risk doesn’t start and end with your primary name.
It includes:
- descriptors
- endorsements
- “powered by” language
- investor-driven rebrands
- last-minute marketing tweaks
These are exactly the areas businesses skip clearing — and exactly where disputes arise.
Planning a launch, rebrand, or scale-up in 2026?
A short clearance check now can prevent a forced recall later.
👉 Talk to IP Solved about brand clearance and IP strategy before you go to market.
