In a recent decision, the Federal Court of Australia discussed an issue pertaining to the grant of relief for the infringement of copyright and breach of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) In Dynamic Supplies Pty Limited v Tonnex International Pty Limited (No 2)1, Justice Yates passed a decision on the Dynamic’s claim of Copyright [...]
A recent decision by the Australian Trade Marks Office (ATMO) highlighted the importance of the intent of an applicant in filling a Trademark application. In Marvel Characters, Inc v Gary Charles (Unreported), the hearing officer rejected a Trademark application on the grounds of bad faith. Facts: The applicant Gary Charles is a Brisbane clothing-store [...]
In a recent dispute, the Federal Court analyzed in detail the issue whether Copyright subsists on the headline of the article as well. In the present case, the Plaintiff had Copyright subsisting on every article, headlines, and other material such as photographs and advertisements published by them in each edition of their magazine, yet Justice [...]
In a recent case, Full Court of the Federal Court shed light on the concept of misleading or deceptive conduct or passing off by overruling the prior decision passed by Justice Middleton. In Bodum v DKSH Australia Pty Limited, the question was whether DKSH Australia Pty Ltd had committed an offence under Trade Practices Act [...]
In the recent case of Telstra Corporation Limited v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 44, the Full Federal Court held that computer generated databases are not protected by copyright laws as these do not add any literary value or human authorship to the original literary work. QUICK FACTS Telstra created a compilation from [...]
Intellectual Property law serves to deliver justice when it comes to patent threats. The party threatened with an “unfair” patent infringement is entitled to relief under section 128 of the Australian Patents Act 1990 (the Act) in certain circumstances. How does this really work? The underlying principle under section 128 is that the person initiating [...]
Forrest Gump was right. ‘Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get!’ In the intellectual property game this is especially true for the chocolate industry and big brand names such as Mars, Cadbury and Sweet Rewards. Mars Australia, in Mars Australia Pty Ltd v Sweet Rewards Pty [...]