How does the Federal Budget 2023 affect the Australian IP profession?
In May, the Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the 2023-24 Australian Federal Budget with updates to key economic forecasts. This article specifically looks at some of the budget announcements to see if any emerging or future intellectual property (IP) trends can be predicted for Australia’s IP profession. I do wish to emphasize that IP […]
Success From Home: Ulterra SoftDrive
Australian Invention Picked Up by Major American Mining Company A new mining tool created by individual Australian inventor Nathan Andrews Brooks is being engineered by major American mining company Ulterra Drilling Technologies. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Ulterra is the largest independent global supplier of Polycrystalline Diamon Compact (PDC) bits. The innovative new SoftDrive drilling […]
Succession Planning for Patents: Lessons from the Monarchy
I was on a plane from Singapore to San Francisco to attend a recently concluded conference when the news of HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s passing came through on the news channel. Whilst quietly acknowledging her remarkable life well-lived, the end of an era got me thinking about the issue of succession planning when it comes […]
Enablement by reference to “plausibility” and “undue burden”: Lessons for European and US Pharmaceutical Patent Applicants filing Australian Patents
The requirements under Australian Patent law to demonstrate enablement of a patent claim across its full scope was enshrined in Australian law with the IP Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 that came into effect on 15 April 2013. The “enablement” requirement in Australian practice is very similar to the “sufficiency” requirement imposed in Europe. Section […]
Did IP Australia leak images of the Lotus Type 132 SUV: A fine example of inaccurate news reporting by Australia’s “leading news publication”
Earlier this week I came across an article making a bold claim that IP Australia had leaked the images of an upcoming Lotus SUV. As is often the case with many Intellectual Property (IP) matters reported by the media, the facts quoted in the article are incorrect. This particular Australian news story was recycled from […]
Patenting Landscape for Hydrogen Technologies: A world-wide study
Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on Earth and is a very versatile source of energy with potential applications for automobile, transportation and large-scale industrial applications such as steel and ammonia production. When compared with other traditional fossil fuels, byproducts from burning hydrogen cause no pollution. Hydrogen technology appears to be the most […]
OWNERSHIP OF TRADE MARKS – Identifying the correct applicant in Australian applications
The question of ownership is an important one that should be considered before promoting a trade mark or applying for registration of a trade mark. In Australia, the Courts have held that there are two general mechanisms by which ownership is acquired. These are through use and/or through authorship. Ownership Through First Use The first person to use a trade mark in trade […]
Inventive Step & Non-obviousness: Australian Patent Law Compared With the United States
Obtaining valid patent protection includes satisfying certain requirements. The requirements often differ in many jurisdictions. One well-known, universal requirement is that an invention must be ‘new’ or ‘novel’ in light of what has been done before. In many jurisdictions, another requirement is that an invention must also involve an inventive step or must not be […]
The benefit of obtaining a certificate of use of a trade mark
There is an exception to the limited costs allowed in Australian opposition proceedings we discussed in our earlier opinion piece/blog article where an opponent to non-use proceedings has furnished the removal applicant with a ‘certificate of use of a trade mark’ at or before filing the notice of intention to oppose. In these circumstances, should […]
Should Australia allow for an uplift in costs awarded in Trade Mark Oppositions?
MBIP is currently acting for an applicant in opposition proceedings, where the opponent has filed close to 5,000 pages of supporting evidence – much of which is irrelevant (some showing only completely unrelated brands). Clearly a strategy intended to overwhelm, the volume of evidence filed by the serial opponent has largely been regurgitated from previous […]