General

IP Australia is moving ahead with changes to the official fees for certain IP Rights. These changes are proposed to take effect from 10 October 2016 and the changes to Madrid import applications will take effect from 28 October 2016. Full details of the changes can be seen on IP Australia’s website.  As for trade marks, below […]

Thinking of optimising your search results with a competitor’s trademark? This new court decision means advertisers must tread carefully.  It’s a common practice used by businesses to optimise their search engine results with Google: Keywords are purchased through Google Adwords which may include names or trademarks owned by a competitor in order to piggyback their

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”). The purpose of GCC is to achieve unity among its members and in May 2015, the GCC Trade Cooperation Committee issued the Implementing Regulations of the GCC Trade Mark Law. Roll out of the

As you will all now be aware, the UK has voted to leave the EU. How will this decision affect existing and future European Trade Marks (EUTMs)? We can only speculate at this early stage what impact Brexit will have on EUTMs but in the immediate future at least, EUTM rights will continue to be

Indonesia has finally set the wheels in motion to enable the recordation of license agreements for copyright, patents, trademarks and industrial designs. Whilst recordation has always been a requirement to render license agreements enforceable against third parties in Indonesia, the actual process of recordation itself has been impossible due to a lack of regulations implementing

Further to our legal update on 5 February 2016, Regulation No. 2015/2424 amending the EU’s trade mark system came into force on 23 March 2016. Classification of Goods and Services for Trade Marks filed before 22 June 2012 The regulation provides for a transitional 6 month period commencing 23 March 2016 and ending 23 September

The Madrid Protocol International Trade Mark System has in recent years become extremely popular with trade mark owners wanting to obtain protection for their marks in multiple countries under one trade mark application, known as an International Registration (IR). The Madrid Union now has 97 members covering 113 countries and according to WIPO, these members

Regulation No. 2015/2424 which amends the EU’s trade mark system comes into force on 23 March 2016. As a result, some major changes to the system are set to be implemented. Below is a summary of some of these changes: Name Change for the Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) The OHIM will

What is a notary public? A notary public is a solicitor of at least 5 years standing who has been admitted by the Supreme Court as a Public Notary. Unlike Justices of the Peace (a JP), a notary public’s signature and official seal is recognised not only in Australia but also internationally. A notary public

On 7 December 2015 the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) acceded to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol). The Madrid Protocol will enter into force, with respect to Lao PDR on 7 March 2016. Accession to the Madrid Protocol by Lao PDR brings the number