The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Dr Francis Gurry, will present a public lecture at the Melbourne Law School on 3 August. Gurry is the highest-ranking Australian official in a United Nations agency, and only the third to ever head a UN agency. He is making his first official visit to Australia since …
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This morning’s Age newspaper report of US$1.92 million fine imposed on a Minnesota woman who illegally downloaded 24 songs contrasts markedly with the approach of Australian courts. The matter was a civil suit, with a jury deciding the penalty.
IP Australia has released three consultation papers discussing proposals for improving patent opposition proceedings, trade mark opposition proceedingsand divisional application processes. The objective of the proposals is to reduce the period of uncertainty during which the public and third parties do not know where they have freedom to operate.
The granting of interlocutory injunctions continues apace with Ryan J in Wake Forest University Health Sciences v Smith & Nephew Pty Ltd [2009] FCA 630 ordering Smith & Nephew be restrained from commercial dealings in their Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Foam Dressing Kits said to be an infringement of Wake Forest’s patent.
Today’s Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald have carried a story reporting that copyright-infringing downloads have escalated as a consequence of the economic downturn. Read the article here.
As noted in the article “Rapid relief – seeking interlocutory injunctions to restrain patent infringement” in the May 2009 issue of Inventive Steps, there appears to be a recent trend for Australian Courts to more readily grant an interlocutory injunction to restrain alleged patent infringement. While the cases mentioned in that article mostly arose in …
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The Australian government presented it budget to parliament on Tuesday evening. It is a big-spending budget intended to cushion the impact of the global recession and to stimulate the economy.
The New Zealand Patents Bill received its first reading in Parliamant on 5 May. The Bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee, which has invited public submissions, by 2 July.
The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has introduced two new status descriptions for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications entering the New Zealand National phase. The new statuses are: Waiting for examination date and Ready for examination.
The Attorney-General has announced the proposed abolition of the Federal Magistrates Court, with Magistrates being integrated into the Federal and Family Courts.
