The Registered Trademark Symbol or ® means that the brand that it is attached to is a service or trade mark that has been registered with a national trade mark office. Like the trade mark (™) symbol, use of this
Entrepreneur & Innovator Awards 2015
Wrays are proud to sponsor the 2015 Entrepreneur & Innovator Awards once again. The awards are a celebration of innovative thinking, empowering entrepreneurs to take the next step toward business success. A handful of notable speakers will be participating in the event, taking place on May 7. Nominations are now open,
2015 World’s Leading Trade Mark Professionals
“….Wrays outstrips the competition in Western Australia, the nation’s most dynamic economic region. The January acquisition of Janet Stead & Associates, the state’s third largest trademark practice, put plenty of daylight between the boutique and its nearest rivals. The group serves a mix of domestic and overseas clients: local construction firms and wine exporters require brand protection at home and …
Hugo Boss v Sasalili Oxford Fia: The Strategy of Policing Luxury Brands
The Federal Court of Australia has recently awarded both compensatory and additional damages in the Hugo Boss Trade Mark Management GmbH & Co Kg v Sasalili Oxford Fia case. Exemplary damages were introduced into the Australian Trade Marks Act in April 2013.
Allusory Gold: High Court guidance on when foreign words can be registrable as trade marks in Australia
Author: Tim Francis, Principal In September 2013, the Full Federal Court of Australia found that the trade marks ORO (Italian for ‘gold’) and CINQUE STELLE (Italian – for ‘five stars’) were not registrable as due to a lack of distinctiveness. Those marks were originally registered in respect of coffee and various other goods, and the Full Federal Court held that, …
The Congress of Vienna 1814: 200 Years of Copyright Lobbying
The 100th anniversary of the commencement of World War 1 has, quite understandably, overshadowed another, older anniversary: 200 years since the outbreak of peace, manifested in the form of the Congress of Vienna. The principle purpose of the Congress of Vienna was for the victors of the Napoleonic Wars to work out what to do with European’s re-drawn borders. Napoleon …
Australian Federal Court Update July 2015
The information presented in this report is current and correct as at the date of posting but the information is subject to change. Please check the Commonwealth Courts Portal to determine the current status of the cases presented.
A Summary of the New Legislation in New Zealand
The following presents a general summary of some, but not all of the changes made to the New Zealand Patents Act. It is not intended to replace legal advice.
The Price of New gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domains)
Last September 17th, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held an auction for 3 new generic top level domains (gTLDs); namely .BUY, .TECH, and .VIP. The results of the auction are as follows: .buy was won by Amazon-EU S.a.r.l for $4,588,888, beating out 3 other applicants .tech was won by Dot Tech LLC for $6,760,000, beating out …
The meaning of “seat” limitations in a software license
This dispute is one to watch: it is ongoing and hopefully leads to a decision on a perennial issue that irritates software vendors. In June 1999, the Commonwealth Department of Defence and software vendor Attachmate Australasia Pty Ltd signed an agreement by which the Department of Defence had the rights to use Attachmate’s Extra! IBM 3270 terminal emulation software on …