OURISM Western Australia has withdrawn its application to trademark the term ‘Dark Sky Festival’ after it was opposed by Mid Murray Council.
Mid Murray Mayor Simone Bailey has welcomed the decision, but said it was unfortunate the WA Tourism Commission failed to withdraw its application before the council had to spend $30,000 in legal fees.
“It is definitely a positive outcome as it ensures that the ‘Dark Sky Festival’ name remains available for community events without any legal challenges,” she said.
“We were against somebody trademarking that name, when there are many dark skies in Australia and we think it should be open for anyone to use.”
The Mid Murray district is home to a significant part of SA’s River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve, that is based on the northern border of the Murray River, Lakes and Coorong region. 
Ms Bailey said council felt that the Mid Murray district and other communities with dark skies should have the option to use the ‘Dark Sky Festival’ if they also wanted to run such an event. 
“We should be sharing our resources like this and we felt strongly that the name should be available for everyone to use.”
A spokesperson for Tourism Western Australia said they discontinued the application to trademark the name once it received advice it was unnecessary to deliver future events using this branding.
“The inaugural Dark Sky Festival in Western Australia took place as part of celebrations for the 2023 Total Solar Eclipse, bringing 14,800 visitors to events held across Coral Bay, Exmouth and Onslow, and injecting more than $16.1m into these regional economies,” the spokesperson said. 
 “Given this resounding success and future dark sky tourism opportunities, we continue to explore how we can leverage our state’s assets and strength in this space.
“This included looking at a potential trademark for the name ‘Dark Sky Festival’ to activate for future potential events. 
“This was discontinued once advice was received that it wasn’t necessary to deliver future events using this branding.”
 Mid Murray Council has decided to avoid attempts to recover the legal fees it spent to safeguard the ‘Dark Sky Festival’ term.
“We have been advised that we would only be able to pursue a small award for costs,” Ms Bailey said.
“Given the effort involved, we did not think it would be worth the time and resources for that limited financial return.”
Ms Bailey said the money spent on opposing the Dark Sky Festival trademark application could have been spent by council’s planning code amendment to protect the district’s dark skies.
“We are seeking a private partner to help us with this amendment,” she said.
The Dark Sky Reserve in October 2019 received accreditation from the International Dark Sky Association.
Ms Bailey said the dark sky reserve was becoming a significant tourist attraction for the state.
“These include tourism and economic benefits in running star gazing tours and astronomy festivals,” she said.
Ms Bailey said the dark sky reserve gave primary producers, who often faced challenges such as drought, a chance to diversify the use of their properties.
Mid Murray council’s section 41 Dark Sky Committee member Chris Tugwell said community members involved with the reserve were “extremely pleased” with Tourism Western Australia’s decision to withdraw its trademark application.
Mr Tugwell is also chairperson of Mid Murray Landcare SA.
“An expression like ‘Dark Sky Festival’ is very common, it is not unique and there are many Dark Sky Festivals around the world,” he said.
“There is one in the Northern Territory and in the Blue Mountains in NSW.”
Mr Tugwell said the Mid Murray district when applying for the international accreditation for the River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve had also mentioned the concept of running such a festival in the future.