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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Copyright works can often be the result of input from more than one person. The work will be considered one work (work of joint authorship) if the work has been produced by the collaboration of the authors and the contribution of each is not separate from the contribution of the others. Otherwise there will be two or …
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A recent decision of the patent office, Merial, Inc. v Bayer New Zealand Limited [2018] APO 14, has again highlighted the hazards of failing to “disclose the best method known to the applicant of performing the invention”, as required by section 40(2)(aa) of the Australian Patents Act. The facts of the case Opposed application AU2014201152 …
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Legislation was passed by the New Zealand Government on 5 March 2018 introducing amendments to the Patents Regulations 2014, the Trade Mark Regulations 2003, the Trade Marks (International Registration) Regulations 2012, and the Design Regulations 1954. These amendments will allow for an address for service to be provided in Australia or New Zealand for patent, …
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