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 About



Brisbane based law and news blogger, podcaster and author. 

With an interest in raising the level of discourse on popular events and making distilling hard to understand concepts in an easily digestible way. 

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The Federal Court this week delivered their judgement on  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Service Seeking Pty Ltd  [2020] FCA 1040 going all out by handing out whopping fines, legal costs orders and ordering Service Seeking Pty Ltd to establish a, undoubtedly expensive, compliance system to be monitored by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).  What did they do that was so bad?  According to the Federal Court of Australia, they created a system in which businesses could write their own customer reviews.  With a rating system less defined than what constitutes a 5-star rating in an Uber trip, businesses could write a review, assign a star rating and send it off to their customer for approval. If the customer didn’t respond or even open the email containing the review, then the review was automatically published online after a set period. By estimates of the Court, approximately 80% of the reviews published on the website for the period that this sch

OFF-BRAND - How a high-fashion brand and a local ice cream shop have come to blows over intellectual property

OFF-BRAND  How a high-fashion brand and an ice cream shop have come to blows over intellectual property In the various industries that are out there, not too many are as different as fashion and ice cream. One is involved in providing happiness, comfort and everything nice in this world and that other provides a sharp reminder that maybe that extra scoop of ice cream was too much. But suffice to say, a rift between the two industries is not something that you would expect to find.  But as hype culture and the obsessive fandom on the internet have grown, the industries have been growing closer and closer together. But sadly, not in the way you think, we are still a few years off wearable ice cream. Instead, there is now a good chance that your local ice creamery sells merchandise. Less impressive, for sure. But this has become a staple for restaurants with even just a modicum of goodwill attached to their name and why not? If customers are willing to pay an extra $50 so that people will

What are Trademark Classes

  What are Trademark Classes When you are registering a trademark, it is essential to think about what the kind of classes of object/services you want your trademark to apply to. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has designated 45 classes in which you can register a trademark. Classes 1-34 are for goods that you may produce (like food or technology) and classes 35-45 are for services (like legal or medical services). This is known as the Nice International Classification of Goods and Services and has been the method of classifying what areas a trademark is registered in over 85 countries, including Australia.  How to pick a class? When you a completing a trademark application, you must determine precisely what bounds you wish you apply to your trademark. An application for a trademark is likely to be rejected if you set the bounds to be too big and ineffective if you set the bounds to be too small. There is a sweet spot which you must find. But it is essential to kee