Flawed mental function saves the day in patent opposition

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In a recent Australian Patent Office decision[1], an extension of time to file a complete Australian patent application was allowed despite a third party opposition.  The delegate of the Commissioner of Patents accepted that flawed mental function by the applicant in misunderstanding advice provided by their patent attorney was the cause of missing the deadline.   Extensions …
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Ferrari takes its 488 Pista Spider design to a hearing and prevails

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The Australian Designs Office has recently issued its decision[1] concerning an adverse examination report for a Car and Toy Car design registration owned by Ferrari. The Design relates to the 488 Pista Spider, Ferrari’s best ever open-top performance vehicle. Pleasingly for Ferrari the Australian Designs Office granted a certificate of examination on 14 July 2020. …
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COVID-19: Put staff at the centre of your decision making

The first time we really paid attention to COVID-19 was in early February this year. By mid-March, we had set-up a COVID-19 Response Team including our heads of IT and People & Development, reviewed our readiness to have everyone working from home, run a successful IT stress test with 40% of our people working from …
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CSIRO developing technologies and solutions in response to COVID-19

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The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is urgently investigating and developing new technologies aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 infection. One example technology is a new isolation hood device developed by CSIRO to reduce the risk of infectious particle transmission between individuals in close proximity. It is envisioned that the isolation hood …
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Congratulations to our new Principals

We are pleased to announce that Dr Mary Munroe and Matthew Ford have been appointed as new Principals, effective from 1 July 2020. POF Board Chair Greg Chambers says “Both Mary and Matt work from our Sydney office. Together they will present a strong leadership team for the growth of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick in this …
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POF ranked Tier 1 for Patent Prosecution in MIP IP Stars 2020

We are delighted to announce that POF has achieved a Tier 1 ranking for Patent Prosecution in the 2020 Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) IP Stars awards. This is in addition to our Tier 1 ranking for Trade Mark Prosecution achieved earlier in the year. These rankings are a reflection of the calibre of work we …
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IP Australia extends streamlined COVID-19 extensions of time to 31 July 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 31 July 2020. By way of reminder, extension of time is available to extend most Patents, Trade Marks, and Designs deadlines for up to three months, and is: …
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Congratulations to our new Senior Associates and Associates

We are pleased to announce the promotion of eight of our attorneys to Senior Associate and Associate positions, effective from 1 July 2020. Managing Partner, Ross McFarlane says, “The lifeblood of our business is our outstanding people. These promotions are a significant professional development milestone that recognise technical expertise, demonstrable leadership, exceptional client service delivery, …
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