Congratulating our new Wrays Principal

It is with enormous pleasure that we announce the promotion of a new Principal in our Victorian practice, Dr Daniel Beck. Daniel specialises in chemistry, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Daniel joined Wrays in 2018 after 11 years working at the Australian Patent Office (IP Australia), where he supervised a multidisciplinary life sciences examination section of 24 examiners and issued decisions on …

Wrays Marketing News

The Intellectual Property of Autonomous Mining

Almost 3 years ago I wrote an article discussing some of the issues associated with patent protection being obtained relating to remote mine site operations. That article can be accessed here. That article is the most viewed article of the many I’ve written and published on the LinkedIn platform.  This demonstrates the high level of continuing interest in remote mine site …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights

Flogging a Dead Horse – Fintech Patenting

The Australian financial sector is the single largest contributor to the national economy. New ways to legally organise, distribute, invest and hide funds so that profits are maximised, whilst minimising taxation and associated risks, has been popular since people started using coinage and other symbolic value representations for trade. With so much money in the financial sector – and with …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights

Freedom to operate searches

A strong knowledge base can give you a real edge over the competition, but are you taking advantage of all the available information streams? Freedom to operate searches are an extremely useful, yet chronically underutilised, tool for gathering information. FTOs are like reconnaissance missions, allowing you to scope the field of development and your competitors. Used effectively, they provide guidance …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights

A double-whammy for Australian distributors? Parallel importing and infringement threat damages changes

Parallel importing defence expanded It is now easier to import ‘genuine’ branded goods into Australia without infringing the trade marks relating to that brand. In our flagship magazine, The Gatherer, we let you know about an upcoming Act which will make significant changes to Australia’s parallel importation laws. As of 25 August 2018, the parallel importation provisions of that Act …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights

Patent Applicants- Who are the drivers in Australia?

In 2017, there were 28,905 standard patent applications in Australia, through either direct patent applications or the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which allows applicants to file a single patent application in multiple countries. This shows a gradual upward trend of about nine percent over the past decade. However, while patent applications have grown it’s been driven by non-resident filings. Applications …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights

Geographical Indication- IP Australia Report

What do the Byron Bay Chilli Company, Classic Tasmanian Smoked Salmon, Margaret River Olive Company, Certified Australian Angus Beef, and Château Tanunda Grand Barossa all have in common…besides being fantastic ingredients you should probably have on your shopping list for your next dinner party? They all utilise geographical indication (GI) in their names and trade marks filed with IP Australia. …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights

Who is the main driver of IP growth?

According to the latest IP Australia report, applications for patents, trade marks and design rights in Australia all grew in 2017. Trade marks even reached a record peak. Sounds like good news. However, the main driver of this growth was from overseas (or non-resident) applicants. In fact, trade mark filings by non-residents increased by 25 percent and design filings by non-residents increased by 9 …

Wrays Industry Insights, Insights