Who could forget the classic Australian ‘Goggomobil’, the HELLO YELLOW jingle or the ‘Let your fingers do the walking’ tagline? These advertising gems and cues, launched by leading telecommunications company, Telstra, bring to mind their ‘Yellow Pages’ directory. But when used in relation to print or online directories, does the word YELLOW alone give rise to such an association? Or in trade mark …
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A series of cases, including Knott Investments Pty Ltd v Winnebago Industries, Inc [2013] FCAFC 59 (7 June 2013) have dealt with the tale of a US company and an Australian company that copied its foreign trade marks. In 2010, American company, Winnebago Industries, Inc. (Winnebago US), sued Australian company Knott Investments Pty Ltd and its dealers for passing off and misleading and deceptive …
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Science fiction fans all over the planet hyperventilated with glee as The Force Awakens, the new instalment in the Star Wars saga, hit cinema screens in December 2015. The film introduced some new characters (thankfully none as bad as Jar Jar Binks in 1999’s The Phantom Menace) – one of which was a new robot droid, the BB-8. The BB-8 droid has a …
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The Victorian Government has just announced the Future Industries – Sector Growth Grant program. The Fund has been created to focus on increasing growth and developing high value industry sectors to further enhance Victoria’s competitive advantage by building on existing strengths in each industry sector. Sector strategies have been developed to support these growth areas …
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This edition contains articles on: > Full Federal Court rejects patent for computer-implemented invention > The problems of delay in taking action > Goodbye yellow: the end of the road for Telstra’s YELLOW trade mark? > Star Wars: science fiction or science fact? > ‘POMMIEBASHER’: offensive or not? > and more
We would like to congratulate POF client, Vincent Garvey, who was recently granted the Affordable Dialysis Prize for his new low cost dialysis system, which was unveiled on World Kidney Day. Garvey’s compact dialysis system can fit into a small suitcase and uses a standard solar panel to power a highly efficient, miniature distiller capable …
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The Australian Patent Office has updated their Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure on 1 February 2016 to include the following signposts to assisting you in determining whether a computer-implemented invention is now patentable. These signposts draw inspiration from the considerations of the judges in the recent Full Federal Court case of Commissioner of Patents …
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Research by its nature can be inexact, and a serendipitous discovery made during a research programme may be of greater value than the result initially intended. In the pharmaceutical industry there are many instances where a chance observation or ‘side effect’ observed during clinical trials has led to a commercially important product. The ability of …
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Recent reports of alleged owners of U.S copyright in artwork reproduced on tattoos of sports stars have sued makers of video games depicting the stars for violation of copyright should come as no surprise, given the recent surge in the popularity of tattooing. Australia’s Arts Law Centre has produced a detailed guide to copyright issues relating to …
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On 7 October 2015, IP Australia announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European patent office (EPO) to increase bilateral cooperation between the two offices with the aim of delivering benefits to users of the patent systems in both Australia and the European community. The areas of potential collaboration between …
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