The use of ® and ™ in social media…

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It is not compulsory to use the ® and ™ symbols in Australia. However, as a trademark owner, you should use these symbols when your trade mark is used in social media posts (for example, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts and even Twitter tweets – where possible).  There are a number of reasons for doing this, …
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IP Australia releases Medical Device Innovation Report

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In January 2015, IP Australia released their report Australian Medical Devices: A Patent Analytics Report. We have summarised the key findings of the report in this article. The study identified 139,170 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications filed globally in the medical devices area with a priority date between 2001 and 2012. Of these applications, 2,706 …
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High Court to determine if isolated genetic material is patentable subject matter in Australia

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The Australian High Court has allowed Yvonne D’Arcy’s special leave application from the Full Federal Court decision in D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc [2014] FCAFC 115. As a result, the patent claims directed to the gene BRCA1 (which has been found to exhibit particular mutations in women with an enhanced risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer) …
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High Court clarifies the distinctiveness of foreign word trade marks

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On 3 December 2014, the High Court of Australia allowed an appeal against the Full Federal Court’s decision in Modena Trading Pty Ltd v Cantarella Bros Pty Ltd and found that Cantarella’s trade marks CINQUE STELLE and ORO are inherently adapted to distinguish the goods for which they were registered (i.e. coffee and coffee-based beverages) …
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