Trade mark registration is intended to protect the brand of one trader's goods or services from that of another trader. Despite this, businesses in the food industry have increasingly sought trade mark registration for signs that inherently describe the food for which trade mark registration is sought. ...

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently published two reports identifying key hotspots for innovation, and key markets for patent, trade mark and design filing. ...

A pending trade mark application concerning the Indigenous term 'gumby gumby' highlights the controversies that arise at the intersection of intellectual property rights and Indigenous culture. ...

They're both pirates! At least, that is video production company Nautilus Production's allegation before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), which has been asked to ponder the copyright in materials relating to Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship belonging to infamous pirate Blackbeard. ...

For a celebrity, your name is your business. It is no surprise then that celebrities will go to great lengths to protect their brand. This is clear from a recent flurry of A-list trade mark activity including by the likes of Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner and Beyoncé. ...

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has issued advertising guidance for businesses involved with stems cells and other human cell or tissue products. ...

Patent offices in the UK and Europe, UKIPO and EPO have rejected Stephen Thaler's DABUS application naming artificial intelligence as inventors. Both patent offices found that DABUS, being a machine, could hold no rights and could not transfer any rights as the inventor to the applicant as successor ...

This Insight examines the consequences of a patent dispute concerning a patent for a 'fence plinth'. This dispute highlights some of the key elements of any patent dispute such as how meaning of ordinary terms in the patent must be understood in the context of the whole patent specification. ...

A recent Federal Court decision imposed significant pecuniary penalties on a franchisor as well as its sole director and national franchising manager for unfair dealings with franchisees ...

The Full Federal Court has overturned the trial decision in Crown Resorts Limited v Zantran Pty Limited [2020] FCAFC 1, and cast further light on the enforceability of employee confidentiality agreements in the context of civil litigation. ...