Category Archive

There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the Australian Government’s Innovation Statement which was released earlier today. Key Highlights of the Agenda Taking the leap – investing in and financing innovation Working together – encouraging industry and research organisations to collaborate more effectively Best and brightest – attracting people with the right skills Leading by example – making it easier for business to trade and work with government …

Author: Peter Caporn Apologies to Robert M Pirsig, and in turn to Eugen Herrigel (author of Zen in the Art of Archery, upon which Pirsig played in choosing a title for his classic “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”).  There’s little similarity between this post and Pirsig’s classic of American literature, other than perhaps both sharing some exploration of …

Authors: Judith Miller and Bindhu Holavanahalli A Bill to extend the unfair contract protections of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) for consumer contracts to standard form small business contracts has now received Royal Assent and will commence on 12 November 2016.[1] The protections A term of a standard form contract will be void if it is unfair. The provisions apply …

We have just released our latest whitepaper titled, Innovation in Australia; Building a Prosperous Future Through Innovation. The paper is an outcome of the national innovation series held by Swanson Reed and Wrays earlier this year. Key findings in the paper reveal that, to become an innovation fuelled economy and sustain a prosperous future for Australia, three interrelated sub-structures, or ‘pillars’, …

Author: Peter Caporn In a recent patent opposition before a Delegate of the Commissioner of Patents the Delegate considered the issue of whether an improved drill bit was different enough to avoid having been assigned with an earlier drill bit.  The case of Orthopedic Innovation Pty Ltd v CPL Holdings Pty Ltd [2015] APO 71 can be found in full …

Authors: Judith Miller, Stephanie Faulkner and Bindhu Holavanahalli The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) has been partially successful in its misleading and deceptive conduct case against prominent Australian wine educator, Jayne Powell (aka Champagne Jayne). The case related to the use of the term ‘Champagne’ by Ms Powell in relation to wines which were not from the Champagne …

Wrays would like to remind its franchisor clients of the upcoming deadline for updating their franchise disclosure documents and for preparing marketing fund statements.  Under the new Franchising Code of Conduct, which came into effect on 1 January 2015, franchisors must meet new Code requirements in relation the information that they provide to their prospective and established franchisees. Up to now, …

Authors: Judith Miller & Bindhu Holavanahalli A Bill to extend the unfair contract protections of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) for consumer contracts to standard form small business contracts has now passed both houses of parliament.[1] The new regime will now commence 12 months after Royal Assent, which is expected to be approximately late October 2016. The protections A term of …

D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc [2015] HCA 35 The High Court of Australia has today handed down its decision in D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc [2015] HCA 35, unanimously striking down the validity of the first three claims of Myriad Genetics Inc’s (Myriad) patent.  Those claims related to isolated nucleic acid sequences of the BRAC1 gene, mutations of which have …

Authors: Judith Miller and Bindhu Holavanahalli The Federal Circuit Court has struck down the validity of a ‘no refund’ clause in a cruise contract under the unfair contract term provisions of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) in its recent decision Ferme & Ors v Kimberley Discovery Cruises Pty Ltd [2015] FCCA 2384.   Background Kimberley Discovery Cruises Pty Ltd (KDC) …