Category Archive

A recent report from IP Australia’s Office of the Chief Economist has considered the role of trade marks on the export behaviour of 9,000 Australian manufacturers spanning the period 2005 to 2017, when faced with sudden changes to market conditions. Three export behaviours including entry to an export market, export revenue and the diversification of products offered to the export …

The following article provides an update on the Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy and how the funding initiatives can aid businesses in this modern manufacturing sector. What is it? The Modern Manufacturing Strategy (the Strategy) is the Australian Government’s action plan for Australia to be recognised as a reliable, high-quality and sustainable manufacturing nation. The Strategy is aimed to not …

Not All Grace Periods Are Created Equal What’s a Grace Period? The Australian Patents Act 1990 and regulations provides a number of circumstances in which a ‘grace period’ can be relied upon in a defence to alleged lack of novelty and/or inventive step. That is, there are some things that you can do with your invention before you file a …

Last year, the Australian Federal Court issued its decision concerning the Prevnar 13 vaccine in Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation v Wyeth LLC [2020] FCA 1477 (Prevnar 13 AU). This year, the Federal Court of Canada decided very similar questions in Merck Sharp & Dohme v Wyeth Canada Inc 2021 FC 317 (Prevnar 13 CA). While the cases are interesting …

We recently sat down for a chat with Wrays’ Senior Associate, Tyson Keed. Tyson told us about his background and interest in science and talked us through his journey into intellectual property. Tyson, before joining Wrays in 2010 you first studied nanotechnology. Did you do that with the intention of working in intellectual property? Not at all, in fact, I …

A recent joint study by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has revealed that companies that own at least one registered intellectual property right (patents, designs, trade marks) generate 20% higher revenues per employee compared to companies with no registered intellectual property rights (IPRs). Companies owning IPRs were also found to pay 19 …

Patent opposition decisions in Australia may have three results: refusal of the opposed application, dismissal of the opposition and allowance subject to amendment. The last situation is the most common in practice and acceptability of the amendment in resolving the opposition is decided in a final determination. Less common is an opposition to amendment which, generally, has low prospects for …

The main requirement for patent grant is that the patented invention must be novel (or new). This means that at the time of filing the patent application, the invention must not have been previously published or publicly disclosed by anyone, including the patentees themselves. There is, however, another requirement that is often overlooked by patentees and that is that the …

A recent decision of the Ad Standards Community Panel (case number: 0055-21) has reinforced the need for influencers to clearly identify when a social media post is an advertisement. What happened? An Instagram post by influencer Anna Heinrich included an image of her in a green dress, with the text: Turning my apartment into a Runway 💚 Then back to …

As part of the Australian government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package, a new wine export label directory designed to help Australian producers protect their intellectual property rights was launched earlier this month. The Directory will help to better protect Australian wine producers against copycat exporters and counterfeiters and bolster consumer confidence in the reputation and integrity of …