Way more than an everyday interest in IP
The importance of trade marks to luxury brands has always been a happy coincidence for this IP Whiteboard blogger, so when Justice Arnold handed down his latest decision in relation to counterfeit goods in the UK High Court, I (momentarily) ceased flicking through the latest issue of Vogue and switched over to Bailii (the UK’s read more…
The Australian Privacy Commissioner has found that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection contravened the Privacy Act when the Department accidentally published the personal details of almost 10,000 asylum seekers in a document that was intended to provide statistical information about the number and status of applications made for refugee status. The contravention occurred read more…
Imagine this: you’re a best-selling author and CEO. You’ve spent years building your brand, working hard to distil it down to one word, “HOW”, which you’ve registered as a trade mark. You host a meeting with a prospective client, an advertising agency, during which you discuss “HOW” and its meaning. A few months go by, read more…
The Government has recently announced a public consultation on Australia’s implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty. The Government’s proposed implementation is outlined in the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Options Paper (available here), which proposes three alternatives, all of which require amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Submissions close on 30 November 2014. Tucked away in the read more…
A unanimous Full Federal Court has held that a computer implemented method of creating an investment index is not patentable, on the basis that the substance of the claimed invention – an abstract idea or scheme – is itself not patentable subject matter and just because the claimed invention could be implemented using a computer read more…
In a decision handed down this afternoon, the Full Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal by Research Affiliates LLC from a decision of Justice Emmett in 2013 (summary here). The Full Court affirmed Justice Emmett’s decision that the claimed invention of two patent applications, in the name of Research Affiliates, is not a manner of read more…
Pockets. Most jeans have them. Many of us look at them in admiration, often because they adorn the backsides of others (though in the age of the selfie it’s probably more common to be checking out our own …). When we look at these pockets, we will commonly know the brand of the jeans without read more…
Known and loved by generations of Australians and often described as our unofficial national anthem, the iconic song I Am Australian now finds itself in the midst of a legal dispute in the Copyright Tribunal of Australia between one of its co-authors, Bruce Woodley of The Seekers, and the Commonwealth government. The musical score was read more…