Photo of Georgina Hey (AU)

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

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

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.

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.

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”. 

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.

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.