On Wednesday 21 October 2009, the Government announced details of its $196m Commercialisation Australia initiative. Commercialisation Australia (previously known as the Commonwealth Commercialisation Institute) will open in 2010 and provide tailored assistance to those wanting to commercialise their ideas. read more »
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A flurry of posts appeared recently on the Net as a consequence of Ralph Lauren issuing a DMCA take-down notice to the ISP of entertainment site Boing Boing. Without attempting the summarise the broader debate on notice and take-down procedures (which, to put it mildly, is the subject of some contention), this incident is useful reminder that notice and take-down processes impose obligations on notice issuers as well as notice recipients. read more »
On Wednesday, the Government announced its First Stage Response to the Privacy Reforms proposed by the ALRC in August 2008. It has accepted the majority of the recommendations proposed by the ALRC. Read our Alert here.
To improve the chances of success when seeking to amend a patent before the Court, patentees should be candid in their disclosure of all the reasons for seeking the amendment. read more »
A report prepared by an advisory committee to the Secretary of Health & Human Services in the United States has recommended that US patent law should be amended to create an exemption from liability for persons who infringe patents for genetic testing technologies. read more »
On Friday the Full Federal Court overturned the decision by Ryan J in Wake Forest University Health Sciences v Smith and Nephew Pty Ltd to grant an injunction restraining Smith & Nephew from commercialising its negative pressure wound therapy product.
The joint judgment of Finn, Bennett and Middleton JJ is interesting for two reasons. read more »
The European antitrust watchdog this week conducted surprise raids of the French offices of several major generic pharmaceutical companies as part of a growing investigation into suspected anti competitive practices in the European pharmaceutical market. read more »
Professor Blackburn from Launceston, Tasmania, has become the first Australian woman to win a Nobel Prize. read more »
For the third time this year, the Federal Government has amended the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. These amendments are mostly aimed at tweaking the administrative structures that apply to the regulation of medicines and chemicals. More generally, the new changes form part of the Government’s ongoing reform agenda to replace the Therapeutic Goods Administration (the “TGA”) with the proposed “Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority”. read more »
An update from an earlier post: an appeal from the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court in University of Western Australia v Gray may be heard by the High Court, after the University of Western Australia applied for special leave to appeal. read more »