Did you know that trade mark applications can be opposed on the ground that the application was made in “bad faith”? This is a vague sort of concept, with the test being that the decision to apply for the mark “would be regarded as in bad faith by persons adopting proper standards” – but you …
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The Full Court of the Federal Court has rejected the appeal by US company Valve Corporation against a decision to fine it AUD3 million for misrepresentations in its online Service Agreement which contained a no refund policy and no guarantee that Valve’s computer games were error-free: Valve Corporation v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [2017] …
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We are pleased to announce that our Managing Partner, Ross McFarlane, has been nominated as a finalist in the Intellectual Property category for this year’s Lawyers Weekly ‘Partner of the Year Awards’. The ‘Partner of the Year Awards’ is now in its third year, and showcases finalists with “impressive leadership, technical expertise, mentorship and business development …
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IP often receives little or no attention among the extensive and time sensitive legal, financial and business aspects of corporate transactions. More often than not, IP experts are provided with a list of trade marks, patents and designs at the last minute and are asked to determine if there are any IP issues that cannot …
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The Trade Marks Office recently handed down a decision to register a trade mark for the name of the inventor of the sandwich. What follows is a tale of 18th century aristocrats, US chain restaurants and an independent, Aussie café… Flashback: the year is 1792 and nobleman Lord John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, is …
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In 2016, the global apparel market was valued at USD3 trillion and accounted for 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product[1]. According to the McKinsey 2017 State of Fashion report, if ranked alongside individual countries’ GDP, the global fashion industry would represent the world’s 7th largest economy[2]. In Australia, the market value of the fashion …
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Today, new regulations come into effect which clarify the requirements for filing divisional patent applications in New Zealand. These regulations, the Patent Amendment Regulations 2018, allow a divisional application to be filed with claims that overlap in scope with the claims of the parent application (including, for example, refiling the same claim set as the …
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The Full Federal Court has confirmed that if a patent specification contains a composite promise for an invention, a failure to attain any one of the elements of the composite promise in any claim will render that claim lacking in utility. However, while the decision in ESCO Corporation v Ronneby Road Pty Ltd [2018] FCAFC …
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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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