The Priority Allocation period for registering .au domain names will soon be closing, with existing holders of .com.au or .net.au domain names having until 20 September 2022 to apply for their corresponding .au domain name. Post 20 September 2022, .au domains will be available for anyone to register provided they meet the eligibility criteria. What …
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The United States Golf Association (USGA) has been left to green and bear a decision from the Australian Trade Marks Office. The Office ruled that its Australian trade mark application for HANDICAP INDEX was not up to par, with the term found not to be capable of distinguishing USGA’s claimed services, “handicapping for sporting events, …
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In a surprising turn of events, the High Court has handed down an evenly split decision in the highly anticipated case Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Patents[1]. This was the first time that Australia’s apex court has considered the issue of patentable subject matter for computer implemented inventions. In 2010, the Australian …
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Today the High Court of Australia dismissed an appeal from the decision of the Full Court in Commissioner of Patents v Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 202 as reported earlier here. The earlier decision concerned whether Aristocrat’s patent claim for a system and method for providing a feature game to be played on …
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Monster Energy Company and its wholly owned subsidiary Reign Beverage Company LLC, (collectively, the Opponents) opposed an application for a device mark in the name of Cheng Shin Rubber co., Ltd. The opposed application was in relation to tires and tire tubes for vehicles, as well as a broad range of other vehicle-related goods.[1] The …
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A Melbourne restaurant owner recently found out the fine line between inspiration and copying or passing off. You may have recently read about Kanye West writing a cease and desist letter to a suburban Melbourne hamburger restaurant called “College Dropout Burgers”. Mark Elkhouri had been inspired by Kanye and his music when setting up his …
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We are pleased to announce that POF has been recognised as a Tier 1 (Highly Recommended) firm in the 2022 IAM Patent 1000, applauded for “[having] their customer in their heart and show their genuine interest to help their customer succeed not only in securing the IP protection but also in commercialisation of the IP.”. …
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While Australia does have a form of patent linkage, it is currently a limited system and in practice is not very useful for patentees. There is no patent listing system (equivalent to the US FDA’s Orange Book) in Australia. The current patent linkage system extends only to the requirements asked of companies when they apply …
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The Full Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal in State of Escape Accessories v Schwartz, rejecting the claims against Stefanie Schwartz and Chuchka Pty Ltd for copyright infringement in respect of State of Escape’s well-known perforated neoprene tote bag (the Escape Bag) on the basis that it was not a “work of artistic craftsmanship” under …
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Business is all about relationships, as they say, and as the decision in Watson v Cosmetic Warriors[1] has shown, relationships can impact how a business can defend its trade mark in a non-use removal action. Watson v Cosmetic Warriors was an appeal from a Registrar’s decision[2] to remove a trade mark registration based on non-use …
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