We are pleased to announce that Brett Connor has joined Spruson & Ferguson as Of Counsel in our Melbourne office after having over 30 years of experience in the patent profession. MORE

Myanmar’s legislative process requires that a Bill be passed by both houses of the Legislative Assembly and given assent by the President of the Union. The law will come into force on the day of its publication in the Government Gazette. MORE

The recent case of Dempsey Group Pty Ltd v Spotlight Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 2016 provides a useful guide in relation to copyright infringement including the limitation to damages in light of innocent infringement. MORE

シンガポール知的財産庁（IPOS）は、東南アジアに拠点を置くテクノロジー企業であるVoyager Innovationsに、新設の「フィンテック・ファストトラック・イニシアチブ」（以下、FTFTイニシアチブ）による初の加速特許を付与しました。通常、特許の付与には少なくとも2〜4年、場合によってはそれ以上かかりますが、FTFTイニシアチブにより、Voyagerは7ヶ月で特許を取得することができました。 MORE

A recent Full Federal Court decision in Australia provides a useful insight as to how a Court in Australia will calculate damages in proceedings concerning the infringement of a pharmaceutical patent. MORE

We are pleased to announce that Spruson & Ferguson practitioners Sarah McKeith, Daniel Wilson, Jonathan Loh and Grace Wong have been recognised as MIP (Managing Intellectually Property) Rising Stars in the 2018 IP STARS awards. MORE

Generic top-level domains (gTLD) such as .com, .net and .org typically cycle through a “Sunrise Period” prior to becoming available to the general public. MORE

Ignorance of the law may not be a valid excuse but, when it comes to Australian patents, it appears that ignorance of the best method may well be excusable. The recent Federal Court decision in Dometic Australia Pty Ltd v Houghton Leisure Products Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 1573 (‘Dometic v Houghton’) highlights the importance of ensuring that the best method of performing the invention is disclosed in the complete specification at the time of filing, especially when filing a divisional patent application. MORE

オーストラリア連邦裁判所 [1] は、最近の判決で、たとえジェネリック企業が関連特許の標準の特許期間が満了した後に医薬品の発売を開始しても、特許期間が延長される可能性が依然として存在する環境下では、後日特許期間の延長が認められた場合に重大なリスクが伴い得ることを示しました。 MORE

シンガポール知的財産庁（IPOS）の国際部門であるIPOSインターナショナル（IPOS-I）と、ロシアのベンチャーキャピタルファンド、アクセラレータであるインターネット・イニシアチブ・ディベロップメント・ファンド（IIDF）は、シンガポール通商産業上級相である許宝琨（Koh Poh Koon）博士とロシア副首相 MORE

The Taiwan IP Court has maintained the Taiwan Trade Marks Office’s decision and held that Double Dynasty Co., Ltd. (“Proprietor”) was able to rely on use on a website to show the genuine use of their registered mark and thus defend a revocation claim under Article 63.1.2 of the Taiwan Trade Marks Act. MORE

Red Energy Pty Ltd, an energy retailer, applied to register the mark EVENPAY for a range of goods and services including “financial services” in class 36. An objection based on inherent distinctiveness was raised during examination of the application and following a Hearing, the application was refused on the basis that the mark EVENPAY is not to any extent inherently adapted to distinguish. Red Energy appealed the decision to the Federal Court. MORE

To increase the efficiency of prosecuting and protecting intellectual property rights, the Vietnamese government recently implemented various changes to the structure and practice of its National Office of Intellectual Property (“NOIP”). These recent changes are summarized below. Over time, these changes will improve the efficiency and consistency of prosecuting and protecting intellectual property rights in Vietnam. MORE

This matter concerned an opposition by Barossa Valley Estate to the registration of the below trade mark by Australian Vintage Limited in connection with a range of wine and alcoholic beverages. MORE

The High Court held that Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited (“HKBN”) was able to rely on the honest practices defence under s.21 of the Trade Marks Ordinance (Cap. 559) (“TMO”).
It is the first time that the High Court has explored the application of “honest practices” in the defence of comparative advertising under the TMO. MORE

Sumol+Colpal Marcas S.A. (“Sumol”) has successfully defended a non-use removal proceeding against its Sumol mark registration by relying on use of the registered trade mark with additions or alternations that do not substantially affect its identity. MORE

In recent years, advances in technology created changes in the manner in which consumers interact with copyrighted works. These changes resulted in a significant increase of copyright infringements online. MORE

Anagenix opposed the Pharmazen’s application to register ACTIPHEN in connection with a range of medicinal food preparations (Class 5) and printed materials relating to those goods (Class 16). MORE

In Thailand, trademark applicants often encounter rejections on the grounds of non-distinctiveness, where the application is principally composed of an acronym or a combination of unpronounceable letters. MORE

Our Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Mark Update provides a summary of recent trade mark decisions and current trends in trade marks in a number of markets across the region. MORE