Australia’s Extension-of-Time Policy in Patent Oppositions
Time for a Change? Australia has a pre-grant patent opposition procedure. This means that, after a patent application has been advertised as accepted (i.e., “allowed” in US terms), any third party has a period of three (3) months in which to oppose the grant of a patent on the application. Because patent infringement proceedings cannot be commenced until the patent …
Australia’s unfair contract terms (UCT) regime
ACCC action against Fuji This article summarises the recent decision in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Fujifilm Business Innovation Australia Pty Ltd, where the Federal Court declared that 38 contract terms included in 11 types of standard form contracts were unfair. This decision provides important guidance for businesses about terms that may be considered to be ‘unfair’ and serves …
The Clock is Ticking
Major reforms to Australia’s unfair contract terms regime will commence later this year – what do they mean for your business? Businesses now have until 9 November 2023 to remove or change terms that may be considered ‘unfair’ in their standard form contracts used with consumers and small businesses, or to consider whether they would rather provide the counterparty with …
Pharmaceutical Patent Term Extension
The Issue Flying Under the Radar Australian patent law provides for extensions of term of up to 5 years, beyond the standard 20-year term, for patents directed to pharmaceutical inventions. The legal requirements for obtaining a pharmaceutical patent term extension (PTE) as stated in the Australian Patents Act 1990 are as follows: The patent must relate to a pharmaceutical substance …
Can you patent a Christmas Tree?
Novel ideas from those that have tried As we get close to wrapping up another year, many people have been putting up their Christmas trees, real or artificial. So, it seems like the right time to look at the “intellectual property” issues related to that symbol of Christmas. With that in mind, the term “Christmas tree” was used for searches …
How do you protect someone’s work when you don’t know who they are?
The IP complications of being Banksy Here’s a question. What is the situation where the creator of a work is a person who wishes to enforce their rights in the work, but who does not want to reveal their identity? The author known as “Banksy” is just such a person. Banksy, real name unknown, is a street artist who first …
Protecting Australia’s Coat of Arms
How we use our most famous Kangaroo, Emu and Shield Since the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, there has been speculation as to whether the Royal Arms would need to change and whether Royal Warrants granted by Her Majesty are still valid. A Royal Warrant of Appointment is granted as a mark of recognition to people or companies who …
A Lesson in Inventive Concept and Timing
Vector Corrosion Technologies v E-Chem Technologies The Federal Court of Australia recently heard a patent entitlement dispute (Vector Corrosion Technologies Limited v E-Chem Technologies Ltd [2022] FCA 188) in relation to Australian Patent 2006224340 entitled “Treatment process for concrete”. Vector Corrosion Technologies Limited (Vector) claimed that it was solely or jointly entitled to the Patent registered to E-Chem Technologies Ltd …