Australia’s innovation patent system is championed by IP professionals and small to medium enterprises, but has been by under fire from the Productivity Commission for some time on the basis that the system was viewed as producing low value patents and created uncertainty for innovators in relation to infringement of other party’s patents. As a …
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A recent decision of the Australian Designs Office in PI-Design AG [2018] ADO 2 highlights how the degree of distinctiveness required for a valid design can vary significantly depending on the state of the prior art. Upon examination, PI-Design’s registration for a coffee maker shown on the left was initially held to be invalid in …
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Pre-internet, the local sale of counterfeit goods was considered a fairly limited trade – limited to shady figures in ‘Rollex’-lined coats and mobs operating from the boots of back-alley cars. Today, however, internet shopping has seen immeasurable growth in the trade of counterfeit goods. There are countless sales platforms and the breadth of product types …
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Under a recently published Draft Agreement, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) have agreed at a negotiator’s level that any person holding a registered or granted European trade mark, design or plant variety right before the end of the ‘transition period’ will automatically become the holder of an equivalent IP right under …
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Businesses that purchase Australian patented goods are free to use them in any manner desired unless the patentee imposes conditions at the time of sale. However, does this still apply when the purchased goods are modified in the course of refurbishment and resold? This issue was recently considered by the Federal Court in the patent …
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Overseas trade mark owners seeking to challenge an Australian trade mark application similar to their own will often need to rely on a claim to being the true owner of the mark in Australia. A number of recent decisions applying a more liberal interpretation of the requirement of ‘substantially identical’ under section 58 of the …
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Syngenta Crop Protection AG v Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH [2018] APO 19 (9 March 2018) Syngenta has been successful in its opposition to two related Bayer patent applications. The patents relate to an insecticidal composition comprising a synergistically effective combination of one neonicotinoid compound selected from [a number of listed neonicotinoids] and an anthranilamide compound. …
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Congratulations to POF’s Dr Edwin Patterson, who cleaned up at last night’s 2018 Financial Review Client Choice Awards, winning not only the award for ‘Most Client-Focused IP Specialist’, but also the award for ‘Best Professional’ in Australia across all professional services. It was a great night for POF overall as we were also nominated as …
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With the Commonwealth Games just around the corner it may be of some consternation to water sport fans that the Federal Court has recently contemplated the grant of a ‘Springboard Injunction’. In Mastec Australia Pty Ltd v Trident Plastics (SA) Pty Ltd (No3) [2018] FCA 99 his Honour Justice White revisited the question of granting …
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