Australian businesses are increasingly turning to overseas manufacturers to fulfil domestic demand for chemicals and chemical-based consumer products. Year on year, figures show that Australian companies are importing increasing volumes of these products, with some of the strongest performers coming
IP Report 2021
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Rex Lee and Amy O’Brien in preparing this blog.
Intellectual Property (IP) Australia published their 9th annual edition of the Australian IP Report (the IP Report) on 29
Emerging e-commerce trends in China and the potential impact on brands in a global marketplace
Background
E-commerce has brought many opportunities for brands to expand their footprint and tap into global markets. However, it has also given rise to a myriad of intellectual property (IP) infringement issues for companies, particularly for trade mark infringement and
A new domain: International entities may have met their (exact) match
Overview
On 12 April 2021, new rules came into place which affect the com.au, net.au, org.au and asn.au namespaces in the .au domain. The new rules apply to all names created, transferred, or renewed on or after 12 April 2021.
Simpler by Design
Changes to the design system under consideration set to benefit Australian Designers – Designs Amendment (Advisory Council on Intellectual Property Response) Bill 2020
As we kick off 2021, Australian designers may soon be bringing in the New Year with new
Manufacturing in China? Chinese courts confirm the benefits of seeking local registered protection
Putting aside some recent COVID-related bumps in the road, China remains the world’s largest manufacturer. A large portion of its manufacturing consists of original equipment manufacturing (OEM) under contract. OEM involves manufacturing goods intended for export only, and not for sale domestically in China. This business model has solidified China as a critical manufacturing hub for businesses globally.
Demand may be booming, but are breaches looming? We discuss compliance with Australian Country of Origin labelling regulations in the context of COVID-19
In recent articles, we have commented on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Country of Origin (COO) labelling regulations as they relate to food packaging and more recently, the ACCC’s focus for 2020 on misleading or deceptive claims relating to food packaging. Our previous articles can be reviewed here and here.
Healthy treat or misleading deceit? ACCC intends to crackdown on misleading claims in food marketing
In February 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its compliance and enforcement policy and priorities for 2020. Amongst the ACCC’s key enforcement priorities will be a focus on misleading conduct in relation to the sale and promotion of food products, including health and nutritional claims, credence claims and country of origin claims. This enforcement priority has been driven by what ACCC Chair Rod Sims refers to as “the growing community attention to health-related issues”.
My oh my Myanmar!
The Myanmar government has recently flagged its intention to implement new trade mark laws commencing mid-2020. This is good news for global brand owners hoping for Myanmar’s laws to be better aligned to international trade mark standards. However, brand owners must take positive steps to ensure that their trade marks remain protected under the new system.
China update: Good news (with a warning) for brand owners outsourcing the manufacturing of their products in China
Global trade is currently a clear focus between nations around the world, and we are seeing trade agreement negotiations effecting world economies in an increasingly direct fashion. As IP specialists, we are always alive to the legal developments that fall out of these negotiations, particularly how they impact domestic laws in relation to balancing the competing interests between protecting IP rights with facilitating free trade.