Patent offices in the UK and Europe, UKIPO and EPO have rejected Stephen Thaler's DABUS application naming artificial intelligence as inventors. Both patent offices found that DABUS, being a machine, could hold no rights and could not transfer any rights as the inventor to the applicant as successor ...

The Full Federal Court has overturned the trial decision in Crown Resorts Limited v Zantran Pty Limited [2020] FCAFC 1, and cast further light on the enforceability of employee confidentiality agreements in the context of civil litigation. ...

This Insight examines the consequences of a patent dispute concerning a patent for a 'fence plinth'. This dispute highlights some of the key elements of any patent dispute such as how meaning of ordinary terms in the patent must be understood in the context of the whole patent specification. ...

A recent Federal Court decision imposed significant pecuniary penalties on a franchisor as well as its sole director and national franchising manager for unfair dealings with franchisees ...

For a celebrity, your name is your business. It is no surprise then that celebrities will go to great lengths to protect their brand. This is clear from a recent flurry of A-list trade mark activity including by the likes of Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner and Beyoncé. ...

Companies should seek to make the most of their intangible assets. One way to do this is to use intellectual property assets as collateral to access funding. IP-rich businesses, SMEs and start-ups should keep this potential avenue in mind. ...

They're both pirates! At least, that is video production company Nautilus Production's allegation before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), which has been asked to ponder the copyright in materials relating to Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship belonging to infamous pirate Blackbeard. ...

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently published two reports identifying key hotspots for innovation, and key markets for patent, trade mark and design filing. ...

In Technological Resources Pty Ltd v Tettman [2019] FCA 1889, the Federal Court decisively reversed yet another Australian Patent Office (the APO) decision to reject a patent application on the basis that it was not a 'manner of manufacture'. ...

A pending trade mark application concerning the Indigenous term 'gumby gumby' highlights the controversies that arise at the intersection of intellectual property rights and Indigenous culture. ...