Lessons in brand protection: A battle that brewed in Australian craft beer litigation

Using terms in your branding that have a ‘descriptive’ quality i.e. that do not distinguish your product from other traders, can later be problematic when you want to stop other traders from using the term. This was seen recently in the Full Federal Court’s dismissal of an appeal by Stone & Wood Group Pty Ltd (Stone & Wood) against Intellectual Property Development Corporation Pty Ltd and Elixir Signature Pty Ltd (Elixir).i

In 2010, Stone & Wood started […]

By | March 25th, 2018 ||

New Act On Trade Secrets And Know-How In Hungary

The Directive 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure (“Directive”) was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 8 June 2016 and entered into force on 5 July 2016.

The reason behind the adaptation of the Directive was that there is a great divergence between the regulations of Member States on trade secrets and know-how, thus, the protection of trade secrets […]

By | March 23rd, 2018 ||

Australian patent law – best method requirement

Australia’s patent law requires that, in addition to describing the invention “fully”, a patent specification must also disclose the “best method of performing the invention”.

Sub-section 40(2) of the Australian Patents Act 1990 requires that:
A complete specification must:
(a) disclose the invention in a manner which is clear enough and complete enough for the invention to be performed by a person skilled in the relevant art; and
(aa) disclose the best method known to the applicant of […]

By | March 20th, 2018 ||