How’s that? Worth an appeal

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Red Energy Pty Limited v Registrar of Trade Marks [2018] FCA 1449 A recent decision of Justice Beach in the Federal Court may have breathed new life into appeals from Trade Marks Office decisions during prosecution. Background Energy retailer Red Energy filed Australian Trade Mark Application No. 1746950 for the mark EVENPAY for various goods …
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The Federal Circuit Court – an alternative to the Federal Court for IP matters

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On 20 August 2018, the Federal Circuit Court issued a Practice Direction for the streamlined management of intellectual property matters. Most intellectual property matters are filed in the Federal Court. However, the Federal Circuit Court can provide an alternative avenue for pursuing some intellectual property cases. Like the Federal Court, it has jurisdiction to hear …
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A great day at IPBC Australasia!

We had a great day yesterday at IPBC Australasia – an event that brings together IP firms, leading corporates, research institutions and governmental agencies to discuss core themes of IP value creation and strategic corporate IP best practice. POF’s Managing Partner, Ross McFarlane, moderated the session ‘IP in the Round’ and discussed the full circle …
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Loud Shirt Day at POF!

Friday 19 October is Loud Shirt Day! As part of the POF Group’s approach to diversity and inclusion, we have gotten loud for deaf kids! Loud Shirt Day is a great way to educate the community and understand hearing issues, spreading the message that deaf children can learn to listen and speak through early intervention. …
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What a Crocker…Groundless threats result in permanent injunction

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It’s risky business bringing proceedings for IP infringement without proper legal advice. A self-represented Debra Crocker learnt this the hard way over a series of court proceedings, which saw her sentenced to time in prison for contempt of Court and prohibited from instituting proceedings in the Federal Court with limited exception. Following these recent proceedings,[1] …
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Kraft peanut butter, never oily or dry – and never imitated?

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Australian Federal Court not impressed with parallel AU/US proceedings Earlier this year, in a decision¹ made by O’Callaghan J of the Federal Court of Australia, Kraft was restrained from proceeding with arbitration proceedings against Bega in the US. The dispute arose in the context of the sale and promotion of BEGA branded peanut butter produced …
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IP Australia says Jā to “special characters” for patent applicants and inventors

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In what is a quite recent but unpublicised development, IP Australia now record “special” non-English characters (i.e. accented letters, umlauts, diaeresis and the like) for applicants and inventor names on new incoming patent applications. Until recently, an inventor named, for example, Åsa  or Björn in a PCT national phase entry designating Australia would be recorded …
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First of its kind: Injunction restraining launch of biosimilar granted in Australia

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The first interlocutory injunction restraining the launch of a biosimilar pharmaceutical product was granted by the Federal Court of Australia in a decision on 12 June 2018¹. Background The decision concerns the monoclonal antibody rituximab, a biologic therapy which is prescribed in Australia to treat a number of immunology conditions including lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia …
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Crema-free coffee patent grinds to a stop

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A recent opposition decision of the Australian Patent Office¹ focused on the level of disclosure which is required in a patent specification to properly enable and support the claimed invention. This decision illustrates the importance of providing an enabling disclosure across the full width of the claimed invention and, where possible, providing a principle of …
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POF supports RSPCA Cupcake Day

We hosted a morning tea in recognition of RSPCA Cupcake Day to raise much needed funds for the RSPCA. Cupcake Day is the sweetest opportunity of the year to raise money for animals in need, and all funds raised goes directly towards helping the abandoned, neglected and surrendered animals around the country that turn to the …
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