The Australian financial sector is the single largest contributor to the national economy. New ways to legally organise, distribute, invest and hide funds so that profits are maximised, whilst minimising taxation and associated risks, has been popular since people started using coinage and other symbolic value representations for trade. With so much money in the financial sector – and with …
Freedom to operate searches
A strong knowledge base can give you a real edge over the competition, but are you taking advantage of all the available information streams? Freedom to operate searches are an extremely useful, yet chronically underutilised, tool for gathering information. FTOs are like reconnaissance missions, allowing you to scope the field of development and your competitors. Used effectively, they provide guidance …
A double-whammy for Australian distributors? Parallel importing and infringement threat damages changes
Parallel importing defence expanded It is now easier to import ‘genuine’ branded goods into Australia without infringing the trade marks relating to that brand. In our flagship magazine, The Gatherer, we let you know about an upcoming Act which will make significant changes to Australia’s parallel importation laws. As of 25 August 2018, the parallel importation provisions of that Act …
Patent Applicants- Who are the drivers in Australia?
In 2017, there were 28,905 standard patent applications in Australia, through either direct patent applications or the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which allows applicants to file a single patent application in multiple countries. This shows a gradual upward trend of about nine percent over the past decade. However, while patent applications have grown it’s been driven by non-resident filings. Applications …
Geographical Indication- IP Australia Report
What do the Byron Bay Chilli Company, Classic Tasmanian Smoked Salmon, Margaret River Olive Company, Certified Australian Angus Beef, and Château Tanunda Grand Barossa all have in common…besides being fantastic ingredients you should probably have on your shopping list for your next dinner party? They all utilise geographical indication (GI) in their names and trade marks filed with IP Australia. …
Who is the main driver of IP growth?
According to the latest IP Australia report, applications for patents, trade marks and design rights in Australia all grew in 2017. Trade marks even reached a record peak. Sounds like good news. However, the main driver of this growth was from overseas (or non-resident) applicants. In fact, trade mark filings by non-residents increased by 25 percent and design filings by non-residents increased by 9 …
Research – The Positive effects on Commercialisation
The 2018 IP Australia report (Chapter 6) reviews two separate studies that show “public funding of research has a positive and statistically significant impact on patent production, with the impact being stronger for collaborative grants.” This is an important finding because – as the IP Australia report notes — patenting activity is an indicator of the commercialisation potential of research …
Patent Applicants- Who is applying?
All hail Australia’s small businesses! IP Australia estimates that more than 75 percent of the Australian residents who applied for patents in Australia in 2016 were private individuals or small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The numbers demonstrate that a significant amount of innovation in Australia is happening at the start-up level, highlighting the need to further nurture this growing sector …
Patent Filing- Global Findings
World patent filings have been averaging around eight percent annual growth between 2010 and 2016. By comparison, patent filings in Australia have averaged around three percent growth over the same period, ranking us 10th in OECD countries in terms of average annual growth. Patents are filed where entrepreneurs and companies believe they will have commercial opportunity and want to protect …
The IP Perspective: clever planning or pure luck?
Perhaps one of the least acknowledged, and yet most critical, factors contributing to one’s ‘success’, is luck. All too often, people will credit their achievements solely to their personal skill and brilliance, hard work, and hustle. They will rarely mention the role that luck played, and even more rarely (respectfully) give thanks to it. Perhaps they feel that by doing …