From 1 January 2021, businesses dealing with consumers in New South Wales are liable to penalties if they do not disclose to consumers: terms of contracts that substantially prejudice the interests of the consumer; if the business receives a commission or referral fee when recommending the consumer buys goods or services of a third party. What businesses are affected? The …
How to Get Through the Valley of Death in the Shortest Possible Time
Every innovation goes through the Valley of Death…always…every single time. This applies as equally to SMEs and Enterprises as it does to Startups. Most Startups are aware of the Valley of Death concept, however, very few more established businesses realise precisely how and where this is occurring in their business right now, and how it is impacting them. It is …
Pfizer Denied Speculative Discovery Application Against Sandoz’s Biosimilar Etanercept
In the recent decision of the Federal Court in Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals v Sandoz Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1648, Pfizer has been unsuccessful in its application for preliminary discovery from Sandoz in respect of Sandoz’s biosimilar etanercept product “ERELZI”, which is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Background Pfizer is the patentee of three Australian process patents which it …
IP Australia and IPONZ Closure Notices
Please note the following closure notices from IP Australia and IPONZ. IP Australia offices will be closed for the Christmas holiday season, from 5pm AEDT on Thursday 24 December 2020 and will reopen 9AM AEDT on Monday 4 January 2021. Online resources including online services will still be available. IPONZ offices will be closed for the Christmas holiday season, from …
Australian Trade Marks Update
This article discusses the recent trade marks office decision of Holdings of IP Pty Ltd AFT Intelligent Assets Trust v Joseph Buttita [2020] ATMO 169. During Melbourne’s strict lockdown, my partner and I being avid coffee lovers, purchased a new coffee machine. Every couple of weeks we venture down to our local café around the corner and purchase some coffee …
Using Honeybee Venom To Fight Breast Cancer
Using the venom from 312 honeybees and bumblebees in Perth Western Australia, Ireland, and England, a team from the laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (University of Western Australia) directed by Associate Professor Pilar Blancafort, tested the effect of the venom on the clinical subtypes of breast cancer. The research was led by Dr …
No Nation Is an Island
Consider Trade Mark Protection Beyond Australia The quotation “No Nation is an Island” has origins in the poem entitled “No Man is an Island” by my favourite seventeenth-century metaphysical poet, John Donne. The first two lines of the poem are “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main”. …
Australian Patent Office Opposition Update
On 12 October 2020, IP Australia handed down its decision in the Gliknik, Inc. v CSL Behring Lengnau AG [2020] APO 46 opposition in favour of the opponent (Gliknik) on the counts of insufficiency and lack of support. We explain this decision in further detail. Overview Despite the Raising the Bar Act (“RTB Act”) coming into full effect in April …
Hydrogen – Australia’s Next Export Success?
In Australia, industry and government interest in hydrogen is building, as a future major export and pathway to decarbonisation of the global economy. Hydrogen is the most common chemical in the world and has many uses such as fuel for transport or heating, a way to store electricity, or as a raw material in industrial processes. Hydrogen energy can be …
The Australian Federal Court Hands Down Its First Decision on Support Under the Raising the Bar Act
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation v Wyeth LLC (No 3) [2020] FCA 1477. In a recent decision concerning Wyeth’s Prevnar 13 vaccine patents, the Federal Court of Australia has handed down its first detailed consideration of the requirements of support under the Raising the Bar Act, and has confirmed that these requirements are indeed more onerous than the requirements of …