In a decision where a design registration for a mattress and base was found to be valid and infringed, the relevance of the statement of novelty included in the design registration was emphasised by the Court.
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Monthly Archives: October 2009
Patentee under pressure
The decision of Ryan J in Wake Forest University Health Sciences v Smith & Nephew granting an interlocutory injunction to restrain infringement (previously reported here) has been overturned on appeal in Smith & Nephew Pty Ltd v Wake Forest University Health Sciences [2009] FCAFC 142. The main issue on appeal was whether the alleged infringer had sufficiently demonstrated that the [...]
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Amendments to trade marks and copyright laws one step closer
The New Zealand Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2008 has been reviewed by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee, which made a number of minor recommendations. If passed, the Bill will amend the Trade Marks Act 2002 and the Copyright Act 1994 to give effect to the Government’s decisions to ratify the Singapore Treaty and to accede [...]
Click here to see the full post Music copyright case ends on a good note for singer
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported today that the case involving copyright ownership of the hit song Amazing has been dismissed by the Federal Court. Mark Edward O’Keefe was suing singer Alex Lloyd claiming he co-wrote the song with Lloyd on the back of some coasters in a Sydney hotel in 1991.
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Hefty profits in trade mark infringement case
The Court of Appeal of New Zealand has overturned a decision to limit the period in which the trade mark owner was entitled to an account of profits in the cling-film trade mark infringement case Intellectual Property Development Corporation Pty Ltd and or v Primary Distributors New Zealand Limited and ors [2009] NZCA 429. In summary, the [...]
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Interview on UWA v Gray decision
Corporate webcaster, Boardroom Radio, has today published an audio interview of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Lawyers partner, Chris Schlicht, on the Full Federal Court decision in University of Western Australia v Gray[2009] FCAFC 116. The interview can be heard here. The interviewer seeks Chris’s view on the prospect of success of a possible appeal to the High Court.
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Tiffany TM tiff
Tiffany & Co has failed in its opposition to the extension of protection in Australia of an IRDA for the mark TIFFANY KOURY in Tiffany and Company v Tiffany C Koury [2009] ATMO 68. Tiffany & Co, the opponent, raised various grounds of opposition, however these principally relied upon establishing a likelihood of deception or confusion arising [...]
Click here to see the full post Woolworths new brand under attack
There has been significant recent media coverage about the opposition by Apple to a Woolworths trade mark application, although this issue is not new. Major Australian retailer, Woolworths Ltd, launched a new brand for its supermarkets last year and sought registration of the following mark in almost every class. IP Australia advertised the application as accepted [...]
Click here to see the full post Labels diffuse dangerous deception
In Schutz DSL (Australia) Pty Ltd v VIP Plastic Packaging Pty Ltd [2009] FCA 1049, the Court refused to grant an interlocutory injunction to restrain breaches of the Trade Practices Act as well as patent and trade mark infringement in light of undertakings given by the alleged infringer. The applicants (“Schutz”) sought an injunction on an interlocutory [...]
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auDA calls for second level domain (2LD) submissions
auDA (the Australian domain name administrator) has issued a call for proposals for the creation of new 2LDs in the .au domain space and is also seeking public input on the proposal to reactivate two currently inactive 2LDs – conf.au and info.au. Currently, the active open 2LDs are: com.au, net.au, org.au, asn.au, and id.au.
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