Moroccanoil vs Aldi: injunction obtained for Aldi’s lookalike products

Background Moroccanoil Israel Ltd (MIL) successfully obtained injunctions restricting the sale of some of the supermarket chain Aldi’s lookalike products in the recent case of Moroccanoil Israel Ltd v Aldi Foods Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 823. Aldi’s conduct was found to be misleading and deceptive in relation to claims regarding the performance benefits of the …
>> Read more

Parametritis: Descriptive but inherent features do not add a limitation to patent claims

David Longmuir of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Lawyers and Mark Wickham of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick recently acted for Rozenberg & Co in successfully opposing the grant of Australian Patent Application 2010294197 for a “method for the preparation of micro-RNA and its therapeutic application” in the name of Velin-Pharma A/S – see Rozenberg & Co Pty Ltd …
>> Read more

POF welcomes new addition to the POFL team, Alexis Keating

Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick would like to extend an official welcome to our newest lawyer in the POFL team, Alexis Keating. Alexis is joining our Melbourne office, bringing with her six years of experience in the legal industry across general commercial litigation, property law and criminal law. Alexis holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a …
>> Read more

Proposed changes to the Plant Breeder’s Rights system

Background In October 2017, IP Australia released an Exposure Draft of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Bill (the draft Bill). The draft Bill follows a public inquiry by the Productivity Commission into Australia’s IP framework and seeks to implement a number of the Commission’s recommendations, together with …
>> Read more

Federal Court casts white LED light on the meaning of ‘contains’

The infringement case in Nichia Corporation v Arrow Electronics Australia Pty Ltd (No. 4) [2017] FCA 864 turned on the meaning of ‘contains’ and illustrates the importance of such terms in claim construction under Australian practice. Background Nichia is the patentee of Patent No. 720234 filed on 29 July 1997 in relation to a light emitting …
>> Read more

Innovation patent system to be abolished: results of the Productivity Commission inquiry

The Australian Government recently released its response to the Productivity Commission’s (PC) inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property (IP) system. These recommendations include the significant change of abolishing Australia’s innovation patent system, further raising of the bar on the inventive step threshold for patents, and the replacement of existing exceptions to copyright infringement. Abolishment of the …
>> Read more

2017 APAA Annual Council Meeting

This week, Auckland, New Zealand, played host to the annual council meeting of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA). The principal objective of APAA is to promote and enhance intellectual property protection throughout the Asia region. The association includes approximately 2,400 members across 20 countries such as Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore and …
>> Read more

Proud sponsor of the Graeme Clark Oration

Yesterday marked the 2017 Graeme Clark Oration, of which POF is very proud to be a long-time sponsor. The Oration informs the community about scientific advances in health and medical research, delivered by recognised global leaders in their field. This year the Oration was delivered by Dr Harold Varmus and focussed on ’Transitions in Cancer …
>> Read more

POF hosts AIRG roundtable discussion on innovation in the 21st century

This week, POF hosted the latest roundtable discussion organised by the Australian Innovation Research Group (AIRG). AIRG supports its members by creating opportunities for collaboration and facilitating peer-to-peer mentoring, allowing members to learn from companies similar and different to their own. The series of roundtable discussions are think tanks that provide an opportunity to discuss …
>> Read more