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

Are the eggs you buy really ‘free range’?  From 26 April 2018, you will be able to tell as all egg producers will be required to state on their carton labels the maximum outdoor stocking density if packaging ‘free range’ eggs. 

Did you know that as of 22 February 2018, your business may be required to notify the Australian Information Commissioner if you experience a data breach?  Is your business ready?  Do have a data breach response plan in place?

Businesses exporting products around the world can now apply for the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG). Applications can be completed and submitted online up until 30 November 2017.

Further to our Sladen Snippet, we are reminding and encouraging businesses with interests in producing and selling wine (and who rely on the WET Rebate) to ensure they have properly secured trade mark registration.

As previously discussed in this forum, changes to the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) Rebate eligibility criteria and cap reduction were announced in December 2016 by the Turnbull Government. These reforms received assent on 23 August 2017 and bring significant changes to the entitlement to the WET producer rebate.

In the digital age, brands are increasingly making use of innovative marketing and advertising such as native or integrated advertising, social media accounts, bloggers and Instagram influencers. These strategies have been shown to increase audience engagement and brand awareness, and are an effective use of a marketing budget. 

From 10 October 2016, IP Australia fees for applications, registrations, oppositions and the sale of documents for trade marks, designs and patents are changing.

In the latest instalment of a long running international battle between the Wild Geese and Wild Turkey alcohol brands, the Full Federal Court has found that trade mark owners can lose their registrations if they do not exercise proper control over their licensees.

What do you say when a client asks you to own the intellectual property in the design work you create for them?  Do you take a step back aghast at their audacity?  Are you confused or suspicious as to what they are after and why?  Do you flat out refuse?  Or do you agree but don’t really understand what you have agreed to?

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’.

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.