Trade mark practitioners in Australia breathed a sigh of relief when the High Court issued its decision in Self Care IP Holdings Pty Ltd v Allergan Australia Pty Ltd [2023] HCA 8 (15 March 2023). We did not have to read far: by paragraph 3 the High Court affirmed that the reputation of a trade mark is not relevant to the question of deceptive similarity when determining whether a registered mark has been infringed under section 120(1) of the Australian Trade Marks Act 1995.

The government has released the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill to implement a new resale royalty scheme for artists.  The proposed legislation provides a right for eligible artists and successive right holders to receive a royalty on qualifying resales of original visual artworks.

 On the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, Prince Charles automatically became the King of New Zealand. All of the functions, duties, powers, authorities, rights, privileges, and dignities belonging to the Crown transferred to the new King.  So what does this mean for the use of Royal titles? 

The High Court of New Zealand has dismissed an appeal by Stephen Thaler to have his AI system DABUS recognised as the inventor of a patent application under New Zealand law.

 Registered designs protect new and original aesthetic features of an article, such as the shape, configuration, pattern, and ornamentation. While there are similarities and overlap with other rights, registered designs provide a number of advantages that can be leveraged to best protect your intellectual property.

The New Zealand Plant Variety Rights Bill, the Bill had its third reading before Parliament on 16 November 2022, received Royal Assent on 18 November, and the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 will commence on 24 January 2022.

 The New Zealand Commerce Commission has issued draft guidelines on the application of competition law to intellectual property rights for feedback as a result of amendments to the Commerce Act.

Under the NZ Trade Marks Act 2002 the true owner of a trade mark is the first entity to use or seek to register that mark. This article looks at why it is critically important to the validity of a trade mark registration that the application is filed in the correct name. 

 Advising the IPONZ and IP Australia Christmas closure dates, and wishing all our wonderful clients a restorative holiday season.