Several film companies and licensees today initiated proceedings in the Federal Court against iiNet, a major Australian Internet service provider, over its alleged failure to prevent its customers downloading unauthorised copies of films and programs.
In most intellectual property litigation in Australia, an order is made at a relatively early stage that issues of liability be determined separately from and prior to issues of quantum of any relief. While there are good reasons for the making of such an order, it does mean that a finding that a valid IP …
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It seems that the Federal Court is not the only one to take issue with the current conduct of IP litigation in Australia. The report of the Review of the National Innovation System “Venturous Australia – building strength in innovation” includes a section headed “The costs of enforcing IP rights”. The report’s solution to the …
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As reported elsewhere , the High Court last Tuesday granted IceTV special leave to appeal against the Full Court’s finding that it had infringed Nine’s copyright in its TV schedule. The transcript of the special leave hearing is now available and makes for interesting reading. Gummow J gives some interesting clues as to how the …
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In Boyapati v Rockefeller Management Corporation [2008] FCA 995, Kenny J considered, amongst other causes of action, a claim for infringement of copyright in a series of tests designed to prepare candidates for the Undergraduate Medicine & Health Sciences Admission Test (“UMAT”). There was little doubt that the respondent, also engaged in the business of …
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The Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008, which received the Royal Assent on 11 April 2008, has amended infringement provision relating to the importation of films. A person will now infringe copyright in a film if that person: (a) imports a copy of the film into New Zealand within 9 months of first being made …
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The manner of calculating an account of profits by reason of copyright infringement was considered by Heerey J in Tenderwatch Pty Ltd v Reed Business Information Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 931. On the question of what proportion of the profits made were attributable to the infringement, his Honour considered that the use made of the …
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Both the Australian and New Zealand governments have announced that they will join with a number of other countries (including the USA, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Korea, Mexico and the EC) to develop an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as part of an international effort to curb the trade in counterfeit goods and pirated works. It is …
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In Futuretronics.com.au Pty Limited v Graphix Labels Pty Ltd (No 2) [2008] FCA 746, the Court awarded only nominal damages of $10 pursuant to s115(2) of the Copyright Act 1968, having regard to the failure of the Applicant to show any economic loss flowing from the Respondent’s infringement of copyright. However, after noting that the …
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The Federal Court has confirmed that the door is now shut to trade mark owners seeking to use copyright in a mark or label as a means of preventing parallel importation in the recent decision of Rares J in The Polo/Lauren Company L.P. v Ziliani Holdings Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 49. Ziliani Holdings (Ziliani) had …
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