Intellectual Property
Personal and Confidential Information: Employer Obligations to Employees
July 12, 2022Much has been written, and many cases have been litigated, in relation to the obligations of employees to keep confidential information of their...
Privacy Week – Top Tips
May 2, 2022This week is Privacy Week! In recognition of this, we hope to raise awareness by each day sharing a short tip for business...
Domain Names and Cyber Security
March 31, 2022There may not be an immediately obvious connection between the domain names of a business and cyber security precautions. However, the Australian Cyber...
Music to Artists’ Ears: Palmer to Pay Up Big for “Flagrant” Copyright Infringement
August 17, 2021On 30 April 2021, Justice Katzmann of the Federal Court of Australia handed down her judgment in the matter of Universal Music Publishing...
NFT’s Explained: The Intellectual Property Implications of Licencing Digital Assets Through Blockchain
June 30, 2021On 11 March 2021, digital artist Beeple sold a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) of his artwork for $69 million USD.[1] According to Christie’s, the...
When are Directors Liable for Misleading or Deceptive Conduct, Passing off, Trade Mark Infringement or Unconscionable Conduct?
June 30, 2021“What is the line between inspiration and appropriation?” This is how Federal Court Judge the Honourable Justice Katzmann began her 75-page judgment on...
Fee Increases for Trade Marks
September 21, 2020IP Australia has undertaken a review of its fees and has advised of several fee increases in relation to trade marks which will...
COVID-19: IT Security and Working From Home
April 24, 2020Health and economic concerns have been priority issues during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as we settle in to a...
Who Owns Intellectual Property? Employer or Employee
April 10, 2020Disputes between employers and employees as to who owns the intellectual property (“IP”) developed by an employee have been frequent causes for litigation...
“Confidential” Means Confidential
April 10, 2020Crown Resorts V Zantran Clauses requiring parties to keep information confidential are frequently found in contracts. These may typically be contracts of employment,...
EU’s Request for Geographical Indications Protection may Affect your Products or Trade Marks
October 25, 2019If your business produces or deals in food or beverages, then the European Union’s (EU) requests regarding Geographical Indications (GIs) as part of...
Top Tips for Creating your Trade Mark
September 26, 2019A trade mark can be a valuable asset for any business. Google’s trade mark, for example, is worth an estimated $167.7 billion, while...
Direct Marketing and Data Sharing: Shahin v BP Australia
September 26, 2019Direct marketing is a prevalent and ever-increasing aspect of life in this digital age. Direct marketing does not, of course, have to be...
Using the PPSR to Protect Your Deposit
September 26, 2019How PPSR usually works The most common use of the Personal Properties Securities Act 2009 (“PPSA”) is for entities to register a ‘security...
Registration of Everything (Commonwealth) Bill
June 21, 2019Business names and trading names on the ABR Two events have or will affect the registration requirements for business names and a host...
Parallel Universes Converge: Trade Mark Act Amendments
November 7, 2018An act with the lengthy title Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Act 2018 [Amending Act] was...
Branding for WET
November 7, 2018The need for trade marks When the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) Act[1] was amended with effect from 1 July 2018 to introduce additional...
EU Data Bomb: Australian Collateral Damage
July 4, 2018On 25 May 2018 the European Union [EU or Union] General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] came into effect. The GDPR is a law...
Do You Own Your Trade Mark?
July 4, 2018A trade mark may be one of the most valuable assets of a business. It may be a name, a word or words,...
Mandatory Data Breach Notification
March 26, 2018On Thursday 22 February 2018 the Notifiable Data Breaches Scheme (NDB Scheme) commenced. Businesses subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act)...
New Data Breach Laws – Call for a Free ‘No Obligation’ Discussion
February 27, 2018As of 22 February 2018 businesses that are subject to the Privacy Act 1988 must now notify the Privacy Commissioner if an eligible data...
Copyright Infringement
October 31, 2017The imitation game: the perils of copying a developer’s code How much pre-existing source code can a software or firmware developer use before...
Long Live the Queen (Adelaide Trade Mark)
June 22, 2017If you have trade marks you probably know about the “use it or lose it” provisions. In order to maintain your trade mark...
Mandatory Data Breach Notification
June 16, 2017The full force of the new notifiable data breaches regime is on its way with the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016...
The Case For IP Changes – Productivity Commission Intellectual Property Report
January 20, 2017The Productivity Commission Enquiry Report on Intellectual Property Arrangements was presented to Parliament on 20 December 2015 following a long period of consultation...
Trade Mark Lessons From 2016 – Take-aways for 2017
January 13, 2017As with any year, 2016 gave us a fair amount of activity in the intellectual property space. The end of 2016 saw the...
Wild Geese Wines: The Bird Has Flown
December 16, 2016Removal of Trade Marks for Non-Use A recent decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia is the latest round...
Tax Implications of Structuring for Holding Your Intellectual Property
December 16, 2016When starting your business or embarking on your innovative journey your intellectual property may not be particularly valuable. However, it has the propensity,...
Trade Mark Alert
August 23, 2016IP Australia’s New Fee Structure IP Australia is making changes to how it charges for application and registration of trade marks providing an...
The Implications of ‘Brexit’ – What Impact Does it Have on Protection of Intellectual Property Rights?
June 28, 2016The exit of England and Wales, or the United Kingdom (UK), from the European Union (EU) has sent shock waves around the world. ...