On behalf of everyone in the IP Whiteboard team, I'd like to wish you and your families a happy and relaxing festive season. We look forward to communicating with everyone again in the New Year.
The offices of Mallesons Stephen Jaques will be closed over the holiday season (on the dates below) but essential client services will be provided, as required, during this time. If you expect to need our service over that period, please let us know. read more »
Partner: Natalie Hickey 
In an update to our earlier post, the High Court has refused an application by Dura-Post for special leave to appeal from a decision of the Full Federal Court. read more »
Have you heard that Kellogg’s plans to brand its famous signature onto individual Corn Flakes? There was initial speculation that this was a hoax or publicity stunt. However, Kellogg’s UK has issued a press release online confirming that there will be a UK trial. There is presently no intention for a launch in Australia. read more »
Rightly or wrongly, complaint resolution mechanisms in self-regulated industries have – from time to time – been unfavourably compared to judicial systems. The theory is that a self-regulated process is more likely to be ‘captured’ by industry participants, and not lead to decisions made without fear or favour. So, it is interesting to see the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) adopting techniques at the forefront of judicial practice. read more »
A Parisian court has fined eBay €1.7m after users of its French web site continued to buy and sell Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (“LVMH”) perfumes in breach of a 2008 injunction. The injunction was granted after the luxury goods conglomerate, which includes brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, successfully sued eBay for €40m in June 2008 for selling fake goods using the company’s brand. read more »
The Full Federal Court this morning dismissed an appeal by Mars in proceedings relating to the packaging of a chocolate coated malt ball product known as "Malt Balls". Justices Bennett, Emmett and Edmonds all agreed with the trial judge that the packaging of Australian confectionery importer Sweet Rewards’ "Malt Balls" product would not mislead consumers, as it did not contain the word "Maltesers", and that the words "Malt Balls" were not being used by Sweet Rewards as a trade mark. We acted for Sweet Rewards in this case. read more »
Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane (known as "Dr McSteamy") and wife Rebecca Gayheart have filed a federal copyright suit against Gawker Media in California for the unauthorised publication of a private "s-x-tape". The couple have claimed $US1 million in damages and are seeking an injunction preventing further acts of copyright infringement. read more »
IP Australia recently released a sequel to its round of consultation papers released earlier this year on changing Australia's patent law. The new paper expands upon and, in some cases, alters previous reform proposals. In particular, it proposes to change the prior art base for inventive step, abandons the proposed codification of obviousness and abandons "fair basis" in favour of "support". It also gives content to the proposed experimental use exception to infringement. More detail on the specific proposals follows. read more »
Twenty-six years ago, Peter McRae took part of his name, part of his partner’s name (Paprota) and started his own business. The result was a small Melbourne-based computer company called “Macpro”. Yet, “Macpro” was not registered as a trade mark. Now, Apple’s “Mac Pro” computers are world famous and a dispute between Peter McRae and the American computing giant has reached the Federal Court. read more »
Australian Life Scientist has recently published a feature article on the “Top 10 clinical trial mistakes”. The article, which addresses some of the common mistakes made when drafting clinical trial agreements, is a reminder of the need for such agreements not only to deal with the existing intellectual property rights of all participants but also with the generation of intellectual property by participants during the trial. read more »