The latest in competition and consumer law. ...

Australia’s mature and stable market has maintained investor confidence and continues to be a leading destination for investment. However, investors face a range of challenges, particularly supply chain constraints and economic instability, due to rising inflation and higher costs of borrowing. ...

The Federal Government has announced its plans to create a national voluntary biodiversity market and biodiversity certification scheme (BCS) which will operate in parallel to the existing federal carbon credit scheme (CCS). Here we briefly summarise the Government's proposal and what it could mean for you. ...

Geo-political tensions, high inflation and rising interest rates have created significant market volatility. This inevitably breeds caution amongst sponsors, but also creates opportunity. ...

A subsidiary of Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has succeeded in a claim against a trader operating in China (East Bright Sunshine) to protect the Penfolds brand. This will be a welcome result for brands looking to enforce their rights against infringers in China. Brand owners should consider their trade mark protection and enforcement strategies in China. ...

The long-awaited sequel to 1986's Top Gun, in which Tom Cruise reprises his role as US navy pilot Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, has taken the global box office by storm. However, whether the studio behind the film had the necessary rights to make it is now the subject of a lawsuit. ...

The High Court of Australia has grappled with the question of when a computer-implemented invention is patentable. Unfortunately, for technology owners and implementers in this space, the bench was split evenly. By a technicality, the case (Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Patents [2022] HCA 29) was decided against the patentee. In this Insight we unpack the two High Court opinions and how these approaches compare to recent case law and Patent Office practice. ...

Further to our last update, the window for existing holders of .au domain names (eg .com.au or .net.au) to claim priority status to register matching .au direct names (eg 'allens.au' instead of 'allens.com.au') closes on 20 September 2022. ...

In this Insight, we explore how offshore wind developers can understand the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 (Cth) (the OEI Act) regulatory regime through looking at the approach already taken by the offshore oil and gas sector. We compare approaches to merits criteria, regulators and maritime law, and analyse what can be learned, and what questions remain for this emerging sector. ...

The risk for an organisation of being held liable for criminal activity is high on the agenda for directors, company officers and shareholders alike. Below is a handy overview of where it currently stands in Australia. ...