Legal issues, law and regulations concerning the world of IP.
Additional Damages Awarded for Trade Mark Infringement
Trade mark owners can take encouragement from the Federal Court of Australia’s readiness to award additional damages as a deterrent from further infringement. The Court made its first award of additional damages for trade mark infringement in a case about kebabs, where a claim for actual loss from an infringement could not be made. Additional damages are a useful weapon in a brand owner’s arsenal. Read More
It is very difficult for companies to effectively own colour, as was enforced in Local Directories’ Federal Court victory in its long running dispute against Telstra. Telstra claimed that by its use of the colour yellow for phone directories, Local Directories had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and passing off. The Court dismissed these claims and upheld that Telstra’s advertisements published in certain Yellow Pages directories were in fact misleading. Read More
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion on software and business method patents in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, et al. In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Thomas, the Court held all of Alice’s claims to be ineligible for patenting. The decision tightens the standards for patent eligibility but does not eliminate software patents or computer-implemented business methods. Read More
On the evening of Sunday 11 May 2014, representatives from various K&L Gates’ offices hosted approximately 250 clients and friends of the firm at a reception in Hong Kong during the International Trademark Association (INTA) annual conference. INTA’s annual conference is the most important intellectual property conference each year for IP professionals around the world.
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Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith is famous for supporting Australian businesses that grow and produce products. One of the products he is associated with is ‘OZEMITE’, which was supposed to be a yeast based product similar to the Australian icon ‘Vegemite‘ (for our U.S. based readers, it is said that no Australian will travel anywhere in the world without a jar of Vegemite in their luggage – it is a national icon, like the kangaroo). Read More
Following a tip off from the public, six suspects were arrested by Hong Kong Customs in April 2014 for allegedly selling fake English books.
Customs seized 500 books, three computers and 3 photocopiers worth up to HKD117,000 from a children’s learning institution, where the three directors and three receptionists were arrested. The suspected case of copyright infringement, involved selling infringing books as course materials at below half price of the genuine books. Read More
K&L Gates hosted a panel of experts, featuring David Briskin (Executive Chairman, sass & bide and Director, VAMFF), Rachel Smith (Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu) and Jol Rogers (Partner, K&L Gates), at its annual Fashion Law Breakfast held as part of Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. 
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In July 2013, the Hong Kong Government commenced a three month public consultation on three options to deal with parody under Hong Kong copyright law. One of the options was the introduction of a fair dealing exception for parody under Hong Kong copyright law, where the “distribution and communication of parody will not attract any civil or criminal liability if the qualifying conditions for exception are met.” Read More
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram…the list of social media tools for the promotion of your fashion brand is ever increasing. While social media is an effective and immediate way to reach your customers, there are some important considerations you should turn your mind to before embracing this marketing tool, as some recent examples demonstrate. Read More
What is the Global Patent Prosecution Highway?
The Australian Patent Office is one of 13 patent offices from around the globe that have joined forces to create a Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) pilot program, which commenced on 6 January 2014.
Under the GPPH pilot program – where an applicant receives a ruling from a participating patent office that at least one claim in a patent application is allowable – the applicant may request that another participating patent office accelerate examination of a corresponding patent application. Read More
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