In a commentary piece published in Australia’s leading online media law publication, partner and head of our media practice Peter Bartlett argues that Australia already has laws to protect serious invasions of privacy and warns against the effect on reporting that a statutory right to privacy would have. He writes: The reality is that Australia has many laws that already protect an individual’s right to privacy ...
On 1 January 2015, an amendment to the VAT Act is to become valid. Its main objective is to implement EU regulations. The main change concerns the place of performance in the case of telecommunication services, TV and radio broadcasting services and services electronically provided to persons who are not obliged to pay the tax. All these services will be taxed in the country of the recipient of the relevant service ...
A recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court is raising eyebrows among businesses and practitioners because it regards what constitutes a valid agreement to arbitrate, specifically, whether an arbitration clause written in English can be enforced against parties who do not speak the language. Given Florida’s diverse population, the opinion causes concern as some interpreted it to go against long-standing law that binds a signatory to a contract even if they did not fully understand it ...
If you like having options in obtaining patent rights faster, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has been eager to please in the last decade. Expediting a patent application can be highly desirable since the average pendency from filing to issuance is about three years on average, and can be even longer in certain technology areas or if an appeal to the Patent Trial & Appeal Board is required ...
An application to register the word mark BIMBO DOUGHNUTS as a Community Trade Mark (CTM) has been successfully opposed in the European courts. The ECJ upheld the General Court’s earlier decision that there is a likelihood of confusion between the word mark BIMBO DOUGHNUTS and a registered Spanish word mark, DOGHNUTS. (Bimbo SA v OHIM, Case C-591/12 P) ...
On May 4, 2014 the Commission for Compensation and Royalties of the Israeli Patent Authority (the "Commission") rendered a decision relating to an employee's request to receive royalties for service inventions (the "Decision"). The Decision reduces the uncertainty that had surrounded the nature of an employee’s right to receive royalties for service inventions, and provides important guidelines for examining employee royalty waivers in agreements between employers and employees ...
The U.S. Supreme Court again unanimously reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, this time in two cases relating to attorney fees for patent infringement: Octane Fitness v. Icon Health & Fitness, No. 12-1184, and Highmark v. Allcare Health Mgmt. Sys., No. 12-1163. The Federal Circuit is now 0-3 in cases before the court so far this term, and it has persuaded a grand total of zero justices to support affirmance in any of those cases. See Medtronic v ...
The Federal Circuit today overruled a federal district judge and held that Oracle’s API computer source code qualifies for copyright protection, potentially breathing new life into Oracle’s billion-dollar lawsuit against Google. Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., Case No. 13-1021 (Fed. Cir. May 9, 2014) ...
Negotiations are part of our daily lives from an early age. From haggling with teachers over homework to agreeing terms for a new job – we all negotiate regularly throughout our lives. So why then can it be difficult to get some parties to start negotiating when it matters? Parties are unlikely to negotiate if they believe that they can force a better result at a lower cost ...
In a pair of unanimous decisions issued today, the United States Supreme Court has substantially lowered the bar for the prevailing party’s recovery of attorneys’ fees under § 285 of the Patent Act. 35 U.S.C. § 285 provides that a prevailing party may recover attorneys’ fees in an “exceptional case ...
Judges sitting in the Inner House of Scotland’s supreme civil court, the Court of Session, will no longer wear wigs and judicial robes when hearing civil appeals. Where this is the case the court will not insist that counsel should appear with wig and gown or that solicitors with rights of audience should appear with gowns. Where the court intends to wear wigs and judicial robes, for example at ceremonial sittings, practitioners will be informed accordingly ...
The High Court, County Court and the Magistrates Court have jurisdiction to hear civil matters in England and Wales, with the High Court dealing with the most complex and high value disputes. The County Court hears lower value debt, personal injury and contract claims as well as some technology, construction and patent cases. Until 22 April a claimant could choose to bring their claim in the High Court providing the figure claimed for was over £25,000 ...
Clients unfamiliar with patent prosecution are often surprised to learn that few patent applications receive a first-action allowance, or FAA. There are even rankings of law firms that receive the most FAAs each year. But what does an FAA signify? Is it a cause to celebrate, or to conduct a post-mortem? The answer is, of course, “it depends ...
On April 10, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, White House senior adviser Rand Beers, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission announced the release of the antitrust agencies’ “Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cybersecurity Information ...
The New Year brought good news for Romanian intellectual property counselors. The Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (SOIT) introduced the trademark E-filing system ...
On 6 April 2014, the historic remedy of distress ceased to exist. The tool that landlords have used for centuries has been replaced by the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (‘CRAR’) regime.Tenants have welcomed this development as CRAR prevents bailiffs from simply turning up unannounced at the tenant’s address in order to seize goods. Landlords on the other hand are now faced with a more complex process and the loss of the element of surprise ...
In 16 January 2014, the Constitutional Court (“MK”) granted the request for a judicial review of Article 335 of the Criminal Code (“KUHP”) and removed the phrase, “offensive act” from Article 335 of the KUHP. The reason for removing the phrase, “offensive act” is that it allows investigators and public prosecutors to act arbitrarily against certain people ...
On March 6, the Plenary Session of the Federal Telecommunications Institute published in the Federal Official Gazette the call of public tender no. IFT-1 that is intended for the development and commercial use of transmission channels for the provision of public service broadcast digital television ("Tender"). This would be, to form two national chains in Mexico for a period of twenty years ...
If all’s fair in love and war, and business is war, it must follow that all is fair in business. We should therefore not concern ourselves with fairness in our business dealings, but focus on maximising our personal gain, irrespective of the impact of our decisions on others. Adopting the above approach is not only likely to harm you but also your business. People are social beings and have evolved to reward cooperation and punish avarice. Take two individuals - Mr Smith and Mr Jones ...
A decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in 2011 appeared to limit the options for large television companies seeking to prevent unlicensed viewing. It was held in that case, involving the Football Association Premier League Ltd, that the use of foreign decoders to broadcast Sky television in public places could not be prevented because of EU competition rules ...
Westshield Limited v David and Lisa Whitehouse [2013] 3576 EWHC (TCC); Akenhead J, 18 November 2013Executive SummaryIn this decision the TCC considered the impact of a CVA ("Company Voluntary Arrangement") on an adjudication decision and confirmed that challenges to the enforcement of adjudicators' decisions are not necessarily limited to jurisdictional or breach of natural justice arguments ...
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, leaders from the telecoms sector gathered to discuss pressing issues, conduct business - and launch their latest products. A consistent message heard from those in Barcelona is that there is a rapidly approaching 'data capacity crunch' and that major investment in telecoms infrastructure is needed. The Teleport chief executive has estimated that, globally, mobile network operators will need to invest $1 ...
On February 21, 2014, the Federal Circuit’s 6-4 majority en banc ruling in Lighting Ballast Control vs. Philips Electronic North America retained the standard of de novo appellate review of district court claim construction rulings, whereby the scope of the patent grant is reviewed as a matter of law ...
