Intellectual property litigation

Registration of .au domain names – is your brand protected?

From 24 March 2022, any persons with a verified connection to Australia will be able to apply for a domain name ending in .au, also known as a direct name or second level name (Direct Name).  Any business can apply for a Direct Name as long as they meet the eligibility criteria under the .au Licensing Rules (Licensing Rules). [Read more…]

Opposing a trade marks on the grounds of bad faith

If a someone has applied to register a trade mark and has done so in bad faith, knowing something they have said is incorrect or false, registration may be able to be opposed or, if it has already been registered, apply for removal of the trade mark on the grounds of bad faith.

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Government surveillance bill passed by Parliament

On 25 August 2021 Federal Parliament passed the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2021 (Bill).  The Bill modifies various acts, including the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 (Cth) (SDA) and the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) (CA), to enhance the law enforcement powers of the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission in respect of serious online crime.[1]  The Bill introduces three (3) new warrants:

  • data disruption warrants;
  • network activity warrants; and
  • account takeover warrants.

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Can an AI be an inventor under the Patents Act 1990 (Cth)

In the recent decision of Thaler v Commissioner of Patents [2021] FCA 879, Beach J rejected the Deputy Commissioner of Patents’ (DCP) determination that, due to the inventor being named as an artificial intelligence system (AI) rather than a human, a patent application did not comply with the Patents Regulations 1991 (Cth) (Regulations). [Read more…]

Interlocutory injunctions and undertakings as to damages

An interlocutory injunction is an order made by the Court prior to trial either preventing or requiring some undertaking to be taken by one or more parties.  The Courts acknowledge that the imposition of such an interlocutory injunction on a party is not necessarily final and is subject to change.  As such, an undertaking as to damages is usually required by the party seeking an interlocutory injunction (Applicant).  This article discusses the established principles the Court will use to discern whether an Applicant has an adequate case for granting an interlocutory injunction. [Read more…]

Unjustified threats of trademark infringement

Where a party threatens another with legal proceedings for trademark infringement the recipient of the threats may have grounds to commence proceedings for making unjust threats.  In other words where the threats are unjustified the recipient may apply to the Court for relief from the unjust threats. [Read more…]

How much copying results in copyright infringement?

Copyright can subsist in many types of works.[1]  Often words on a page that took effort and skill will be subject to copyright protection.  This sort of copyright is known as a literary works (Literary Works).[2]  However, this also means that infringement of Literary Works is quite common.  This article outlines what may constitute Literary Work and how the Court will assess an alleged infringement. [Read more…]

Franchising Code changes in force

In November 2020, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (Government) released its Exposure Draft proposing amendments to the Franchising Code of Conduct (Code).  The proposed amendments sought to implement the commitments the Government made in August 2020 in response to the Parliamentary Joint Committee’s March 2019 Fairness in Franchising Report which identified a range of regulatory matters to be addressed in the franchising sector.  Since the Exposure Draft’s release, multiple changes have come into force under the Code.  This article outlines these changes. [Read more…]

Preliminary discovery in the Federal Court

Preliminary discovery (Discovery) is available to potential applicants (Applicants) in the Federal Court for the purposes of determining whether there is a good cause of action against a prospective respondent (Respondent).  It is not as a mechanism for full discovery.  Discovery is done before the filing of any claim and occurs at the very start of litigious proceedings. [Read more…]

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