A “Sandwich” Short of a Picnic
The Trade Marks Office’s recent decision to register the sandwich inventor’s name as a trade mark has given rise to the age old question of whether “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”… or in this case a sandwich. The Applicant, who runs an independent café in [southern] NSW, sought registration of […]
ReadmoreUse of electronic signatures
Most documents used in day-to-day business can be signed electronically in Australia. The Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 (ETA) governs electronic transactions in Victoria. Electronic signatures The ETA does not contain a prescribed definition of what would be an ‘electronic signature’. Therefore, an electronic signature may take the form of an image of an individual’s […]
ReadmoreStandard form business contracts
On 12 November 2016, section 23 of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) was amended to provide protection for small businesses from “unfair” contract terms in business-to-business standard form contracts. This came as a result of the ACCC reviewing a number of standard form contracts involving small businesses and identifying a number of commonly-occurring problems in […]
ReadmoreMain Event streaming may see encore in courts
Pay TV operator Foxtel has vowed to take legal action against customers who streamed its pay-per-view content on Facebook without its permission. Foxtel has alleged that two of its customers posted live streams of the pay TV operator’s 3 February broadcast of the Danny Green and Anthony Mundine boxing match through Facebook accounts. Viewers could […]
ReadmoreCourt orders American online video game distributor to pay $3 million for breach of the Australian Consumer Law
The Federal Court decision in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Valve Corp (No 3) [2016] FCA 196 puts foreign corporations on notice that when selling goods to Australian consumers, you may be required to comply with the consumer guarantees set out in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Valve Corporation (Valve) operates an online distribution […]
ReadmoreProductivity Commission report seeks to progress Intellectual Property reforms
A new report could see sweeping reforms to Australia’s intellectual property system. The Federal Government’s Productivity Commission released its inquiry report into Australia’s intellectual property (IP) system on 20 December 2016. The report, which has been released for public consultation until 14 February 2017, foreshadows a number of suggested reforms, including reviewing the duration of […]
ReadmoreCourt orders ISPs to block access to online pirate’s websites
A Federal Court decision may provide a breakthrough in the push to curb online copyright infringement in Australia through overseas websites. In recent years, Australia has the earned an unenviable reputation as having one of the highest incidences of online copyright infringement in the world, by accessing pirate sites and the creation of Virtual Private […]
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