Recent Blogs
A surprisingly regular case that arises in trade mark disputes is where competing marks share the same prefix or suffix. Think SONOVUE v SONOVIST, MOO v MOOVE, TIVO v Vivo. The recent Federal Court decision Dr August Wolff GMBH & Co. KG Arzneimittel (Dr Wolff) v Combe International Ltd (Combe)[1] is one of these classic […]
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In this blog we review a decision highlighting that online marketplaces may be vulnerable to legal risks if their vendors or third parties breach the IP rights of others. On 15 March 2019, the Federal Court of Australia delivered its decision in the copyright, trade mark and consumer law proceedings brought in September 2015 by […]
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Review your IP contracts – competition law changes from 13 September
13 September 2019
What is changing? Section 51(3) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (the CCA) contains a nearly 45 year old exception that exempted certain intellectual property (IP) rights from anti-competitive and cartel conduct provisions. On 13 September 2019, the repeal of section 51(3) will take effect. It will apply to all contracts and arrangements […]
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Back in control – Recognition of the commercial realities for IP holdings within corporate group structures
10 September 2019
The Federal Court decision in Trident Seafoods Corporation v Trident Foods Pty Limited [2019] FCAFC 100 provides welcome leeway with respect to intellectual property structuring arrangements. The problem Within corporate groups, it is not uncommon for trade marks and other intellectual property to be registered in a company separate to the company or companies that […]
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Eva Lu, Associate at Thomson Geer, provides a summary of the privacy and data related recommendations from the ACCC’s Digital Platform Inquiry Preliminary Report. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Preliminary Report on the Digital Platforms Inquiry (Report) contains 11 preliminary recommendations and nine areas for further analysis. Part 1 of this two part […]
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Eva Lu, Associate at Thomson Geer, provides a summary of the privacy and data related recommendations from the ACCC’s Digital Platform Inquiry Preliminary Report. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Preliminary Report on the Digital Platforms Inquiry (Report) contains 11 preliminary recommendations and nine areas for further analysis. Four of those recommendations seek to […]
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Following two further extensions by the Senate to the due date, the Fairness in Franchising report, was released on 14 March 2019 by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (the Report). The full report is available here. The Report contains 51 recommendations, with several references to an inter-agency “Franchising Taskforce”, to be established […]
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The Emergence of AI The growing capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are changing the world as we know it. Ideas once confined to the imagination are now becoming a reality, with AI technology creating outputs either largely or entirely independent from human intervention. In 2018, an album called I AM AI was the first of […]
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Between fact and theory: Public broadcaster to pay Qld family huge defamation damages award – now subject to appeal
10 January 2019
Over $3.7 million in damages and injunctive relief was recently awarded by the Supreme Court of Queensland1 to the family behind a highly successful Toowoomba business, in what commentators have labelled an ‘extraordinary attack’ on their legacy by a prominent public broadcaster. The Wagner family, comprised of Denis, John, Neill and Joe (Wagners) are […]
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We introduced Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in this post. Unsurprisingly, billions of dollars being poured into ICOs over the past few years, and concerns over scams and consumer protection, have been the impetus for increased government attention and calls for regulation of ICOs and cryptocurrency. One difficulty with the regulation of ICOs is the unique, […]
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