iscover
Australia’s biggest cabin crew union has challenged the country’s largest financial advice association over the right to be known as the FAAA.
The situation has arisen because two financial advice organisations have recently merged to create the Financial Advice Association of Australia – and now moved to trademark the acronym.
However, a lawyer acting on behalf of the original Flight Attendants Association of Australia has responded by sending the CEO of its new namesake organisation a note warning that it would cause members to call the wrong office by accident.
The memo, obtained by Australian Aviation’s sister brand ifa, reads, “The public seeing my client’s long-user acronym, ‘FAAA’, being related to a financial services body would send a confusing message to the public and our members.
“Your association, using the acronym FAAA, would result in our member flight attendants, or the public, calling my client’s office in error and cause unnecessary administrative distractions, which would be time-wasting and intrusive.
It added that the Flight Attendants Association, formed in 1992, had long been known as the FAAA in the media and had readily been referred to as such by the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
“Accordingly, my client requests that you withdraw your application for the registration of your proposed trademark for the reasons set out above.”
Speaking to ifa, the CEO of the Financial Advice Association, Sarah Abood, confirmed the group had received the letter.
“The Flight Attendants Association have let us know that they intend to oppose our application to trademark the ‘FAAA’ acronym, which is currently not trademarked,” Abood said.
“We intend to work with them to help resolve their concerns.”
The Financial Planning Association of Australia and the Association of Financial Advisers legally completed their merger to form the Financial Advice Association Australia in early April.
At the time, the group revealed its new logo, created following a comprehensive consultation with its members. Central to the new logo design are the three “A’s” of the name, represented as three speech bubbles, to symbolise its voice in dialogue with key stakeholders.
It comes after aviation’s FAAA recently agreed a new deal over working terms with Qantas to halt threatened strike action.
More than 1,500 FAAA members voted in favour of the agreement that will only increase work hours from 9.45 to 10 hours – rather than the 12 hours sought by the Flying Kangaroo. Rest periods will also be maintained.
