General

What is a registered design? A registered design right protects the overall visual appearance of a new and distinctive product such as shape, colour, configuration, pattern and/or ornamentation. However, a registered design does not protect the function of a product – only its visual appearance. The current Designs Act 2003 (Cth) contains a number of […]

Since 2016, news of Brexit has dominated headlines but in the past 12 months Brexit has disappeared from the front page as COVID began dominating our newsfeed.  However, Brexit has been quietly ticking along behind the scenes. The UK’s exit from the EU came into effect on 31 January 2020 and a transition period was

The .au Domain Administration (auDA) has recently announced changes to the eligibility requirements for .com.au and .net.au domain names to come into effect from 12 April 2021. A registrant of a domain name under the .au top level domain (TLD) must, amongst other criteria, be “Australian”.  Currently, a foreign company will satisfy this criteria if

Fiji’s current trade mark law is based on British trade mark legislation enacted nearly a century ago and therefore it is well overdue for an overhaul. Currently, the Act provides for independent registration of trade marks in respect of goods but not services or registration as of rights based on United Kingdom registrations. Goods are

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard “but I registered the business name without a problem, why can’t I have the trade mark?” I would be very well-off indeed! This is a common misconception and is the source of much confusion with businesses. Businesses looking to use a brand as their

So, you have come up with a great new brand name or logo. It is unique and no one else has it. Well done! What next? The next step (and one which is often forgotten) is to apply for your trade mark as soon as possible. This will ensure that your new brand or logo

On 27 December 2019, the new Malaysian Trademarks Act 2019 (Act) will be implemented and on the same day, Malaysia will accede to the Madrid Protocol. A number of significant changes have been made under the new Act including: multi-class applications will now be allowed in Malaysia; registration of non-traditional trade marks, including shape trade

Why do I need to protect my trade mark overseas? First and foremost, trademark rights are territorial. Therefore, trade marks should be registered in all territories where the mark is, or even will be used. Put simply, delay in filing your trade mark may result in having to re-brand in some core countries. This can

The Intellectual Property Laws (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Act 2018 (Cth) commenced on 25 August 2018 and implements recommendations that the Productivity Commission made in its inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property arrangements. Of particular note for trade marks is the reduction of the period for filing non-use removal applications. Previously, a

On 22 March 2018 the Mexican Senate approved a Decree amending certain articles of the present Industrial Property Law and introducing new trademark provisions. One important change to the law relates to the requirement to lodge Declarations of Actual and Effective Use (DOU) of a registered trade mark. The DOU must be filed within three (3)