Understanding key terms in your publishing contract
Secure IP Rights overseas and obtain financial assistance with Australia’s EMDG grant scheme
An author’s publishing contract checklist
Sladen Snippet - Launch date for the .au namespace!
Faster Tax Write Offs For Intangible Depreciating Assets – Should You Self Assess?
Sladen Snippet - Free streamlined extensions of time available at IP Australia
Software Developers And Advertising Services Are High Performing Copyright Industries
The case of the pirated blueberries
Five frequently asked questions about copyright for authors and publishers
Can I use that? Navigating third party permission clearances in publishing
Choosing the Best Name for Your Business Trade Mark Series Part 1
Naming your business or products can be a tricky and time consuming process. You want a name that represents who you are, and what you do but is also catchy and unique. Importantly, that name should also be one which can be protected by registering a trade mark. You can read why trade mark registration is so important here
Sladen Snippet - No Yoke for Free Range Eggs, new labelling requirements
Is Your Business Ready for New Data Notification Laws?
Secure IP rights overseas and obtain financial assistance with the Export Market Development Grant
Sladen Snippet - Registered Trade Marks Required for WET Rebate
Control it or lose it: authorised use under trade mark licence agreements
Sladen Snippet – Review of Australian Intellectual Property Regime
The Productivity Commission will shortly commence a 12 month wholesale review of Australia’s intellectual property regime. The Government has recognised that with a rapidly changing global economy and new technologies, there is a need to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between intellectual property protection and competition. The review was recommended in the extensive Harper Report on Competition Policy, which noted that excessive intellectual property protection can ‘not only discourage adoption of new technologies but also stifle innovation’.
Do I own the trade mark if I buy the business?
Use our online trade mark search tools to ensure it is not already registered.
If you are purchasing a business and want to use the existing brand, it’s important to ensure the brand is available for use and sale. It may not automatically come with the acquisition of
business assets.
This happened to poor Mr Carroll who purchased a pallet racking, shelving and storage solutions business from the Griffiths in Queensland in 2009, called Rack’N Stack*. Unbeknown to Mr Carroll, the Griffiths had already sold the Rack’N Stack business to someone else in 2008. Under the original sale, the Griffiths retained a limited licence to trade in an agreed geographical location. Mr Carroll was unaware of this until he tried to register the trade mark Rack’N Stack and found out that the purchaser of the business in 2008 had already registered it as a trade mark in Australia. This registration was cited against Mr Carroll’s application, and the owners also opposed the registration of Mr Carroll’s Rack’N Stack trade mark.
Another Shark Tank IP lesson - business name registrations don’t protect your business – A Shark says so!
Is the name of your business protected? Many businesses say yes because they have a business name registration or are a registered company. But those kinds of registrations don’t protect the business. Don’t just take my word for it, Shark’s Janine and Naomi from Shark Tank were at pains to explain this to one of the hopeful start up contestants during a pitch on the Channel 10 TV show.
There is so much confusion about protecting business names and it doesn’t just come from start-up businesses. I have seen well established businesses operating internationally that haven’t understood how to protect the name of their business.