Our most recent Intellectual Property articles are listed below:
20 June 2008
Copyright – Federal Government report on ‘format shifting’ exceptions for films and photographs
The Federal Government has decided to retain the status quo on copyright format shifting exceptions for films and photographs.
02 June 2008
Atorvastatin in Australia: the latest from the Federal Court
On 28 May 2008 the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia handed down its decision in the appeal from the 2006 decision in Ranbaxy Australia Pty Ltd v Warner-Lambert Company LLC. This case involved two patents relating to the anti-cholesterol drug atorvastatin, which has been marketed very successfully for a number of years by Pfizer under the trade mark Lipitor.
30 May 2008
Franchise alert – transfer of a franchise
A recent decision considered whether a franchisor’s refusal of a transfer of a franchise was unlawful.
30 May 2008
Franchise alert – state franchise reviews
South Australian and Western Australian inquiries examined the franchise environment in those states and delivered reports calling for an increase in the role and power of the ACCC and further amendments to the Franchising Code of Conduct.
13 May 2008
Patenting enantiomers – the Australian escitalopram decision
On 30 April 2008, the Federal Court of Australia publicly released its decision in Alphapharm v Lundbeck—a case that addressed a number of interesting issues involving patents for enantiomers.
28 April 2008
Who has the energy for Monster litigation?
A decision of the Federal Court was handed down on 31 March 2008 relating to a dispute between two beverage companies: Hansen, based in the United States, and Bickfords, based in Australia.
29 January 2008
Copyright – review of ‘format shifting’ exceptions
The government has recently announced a review of the operation of the copyright exceptions which allow format shifting of photographs and cinematographic films for private and domestic use (section 47J and section 110AA of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
18 December 2007
Federal Court decision regarding book and television show titles
There has been a recent decision of the Australian Full Federal Court in relation to titles of television shows and books. The issue related to whether Beyond Properties Pty Ltd (and other companies including Discovery, SBS and Foxtel) had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth).
20 November 2007
Changes affecting trade marks in the United Kingdom and Europe
Changes have occurred in the way trade marks are examined in the United Kingdom. The changes require a higher degree of proactivity to protect and maintain your United Kingdom and European Community trade marks.
01 November 2007
United States patent applications: Significant rule changes on the way
The much anticipated changes to the United States patent rules will come into effect on 1 November 2007, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) publishing the final form of the new rules on its website on 21 August 2007.
22 October 2007
Australian patent practice – removal of onus to file search results
Until today, an applicant for a standard Australian patent was required to lodge search results arising from foreign patent office search and examination. The requirement applied to cases undergoing ordinary examination and applied to all search results that were completed prior to the grant of the patent.
15 August 2007
Copyright: TV guides go to battle
The Federal Court has dismissed Channel Nine’s action against IceTV, the provider of a subscription based electronic program guide (EPG), for infringement of copyright in Nine’s program guide.
28 May 2007
Freehills marks 100 years of Australian trade marks
Freehills’ Perth office and IP Australia celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first federally registered trade mark, with a cocktail party held on Thursday 24 May.
25 May 2007
auDA reviews .au domain name policy
The Australian domain name administrator, auDA, the industry body that sets policy for all .au domain names, released an issues paper on 18 May 2007.
25 May 2007
High Court yacht case emphasises importance of design registrations
A recent High Court decision has shown why it can be important to obtain registered design protection for new and valuable designs.
25 May 2007
Intellectual Property Update May 2007
In this month's Intellectual Property Update, we look at the importance of design registrations; explore the Lockwood case; and the Australian Domain Name Administrator's review of domain name policy.
25 May 2007
Unlocking inventive step — the High Court in Lockwood Security Products v Doric Products
The High Court has handed down its second judgment in the case of Lockwood Security Products Pty Ltd v Doric Products Pty Ltd, which addresses several important aspects of the law of obviousness or inventive step.
24 April 2007
Recent changes to the Trade Marks Act 1995 — Key practice issues
In this article, we discusses several key changes to the Trade Marks Act 1995 implemented through the Trade Marks Amendment Act 2006 and the Intellectual Property Law Amendment Act 2006.
24 April 2007
Anti-competitive conduct could result in a compulsory licence
With all the attention on the Dawson reforms of the TPA, a new remedy for anti-competitive conduct has gone largely unnoticed. Karen Gibbons and Zarghona Fazal examine the impact of an amendment to the Patents Act which attempts to bring together the sometimes conflicting philosophies of competition law and intellectual property law.
16 March 2007
The new face of Copyright law in Australia
The Copyright Act 1969 has recently been given an overhaul to implement the recommendations of a number of copyright law reviews and Australia’s remaining obligations under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement.
