Designs Amendment Bill 2020 – What you need to know

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The Designs Amendment (Advisory Council On Intellectual Property Response) Bill 2020 was introduced into Parliament on Wednesday, 2 December 2020. In broad terms, the Bill is intended to provide greater flexibility for designers during the early stages of seeking design protection. It also seeks to clarify and simplify aspects of the designs system. Some noted key features …
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Biometric Data and Privacy

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As the Covid-19 pandemic has swept across the world, organisations have increasingly looked to new, contactless technology. Biometric data is a powerful tool for identification which enables much of our modern contactless technology. This technology is underpinning the careful balancing act that is sustainably managing the ongoing health risks posed by COVID-19, and the reopening …
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Katie v Katy: A rose by any other name

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Trade mark owners can invest considerable effort in promoting and establishing the reputation of their brand, and so are justifiably angered if someone else comes along and starts using the same mark. Normally, registering your trade mark means that you would have remedies against an infringing third party – but what happens when your brand …
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IP Australia extends COVID-19 extensions of time to 31 January 2021

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As noted in our previous blog post, IP Australia introduced a new streamlined process for extension of time requests for Applicants impacted by COVID-19. These arrangements have now been extended until at least 31 January 2021. IP Australia are also allowing a further streamlined COVID-19 extension even if you have previously received an extension. By way of reminder, extension of time is available to …
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POF welcomes new attorney, Paul Goodall

Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick extends a warm welcome to our newest patent attorney, Paul Goodall, who has recently joined our Sydney office as a member of our Electronics, Physics and IT team. Paul has seven years experience working in the engineering field. During his career, he has predominately focussed on electronics and telecommunications engineering, working on …
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IP Australia extends COVID-19 extensions of time to 30 November 2020

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As noted in our previous blog post, IP Australia introduced a new streamlined process for extension of time requests for Applicants impacted by COVID-19.  These arrangements have now been extended until at least 30 November 2020. IP Australia are also allowing a further streamlined COVID-19 extension even if you have previously received an extension.   By way of reminder, extension of time is available …
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Australian High Court refuses to hear Rokt software patent appeal

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The High Court of Australia has dismissed an application for special leave to appeal from the Commissioner of Patents v Rokt Pte Ltd 1 of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. As we have previously indicated, the law relating to the patentability of computer-implemented inventions is beginning to look settled in Australia by the decisions in Encompass …
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2020 Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia award winners

Congratulations to CSIRO for winning the KCA Best Research Commercialisation Award at today’s KCA digital awards ceremony. CSIRO’s submission was based on being able to quickly and accurately X-ray ore to see how much gold is inside. The system, PhotonAssay, uses high-energy X-rays to increase gold recovery by 1-3%, which is worth $2 billion a …
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Manner of Manufacture: Coarse patent filter becomes quite the grind

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IP Australia have recently revised their Manual of Practice and Procedure (known as the Patent Examiners Manual) relating to Manner of Manufacture.  The revisions specifically relate to  Manner of Manufacture as it applies to computer related inventions. These revisions were made in light of the recent Rokt and Aristocrat judgments, although as at the time of writing both of …
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