Welcome to our Newsletter, bringing you the latest in Intellectual Property, Technology and Media Law legal news.
We are pleased to announce that our team have recently launched our Start Sharp startup package. This package is designed to help new businesses with their structuring requirements and brand protection in order to assist with navigating through the initial phases of starting and growing a business.
Our startup team can assist with:
- Providing advice on company structuring and shareholdings;
- Drafting and reviewing a range of commercial agreements;
- Registering trade marks in Australia and international territories; and
- Registering domain names.
For further information on our Startup package offering click here, or contact our team at startsharp@hwle.com.au to find out more on how we can assist you.
Privacy for small businesses
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act) regulates the way personal information of individuals is handled and whilst some small businesses with an annual turnover of $3 million or less are generally not required to comply with the Act’s requirements, section 6EA does include a mechanism to allow organisations to voluntarily elect to be bound the Act and its requirements to reap potential reputational benefits.
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Myanmar modernises its trade mark registration system
October 1 2020 saw the transition period for the Myanmar’s new trade mark system. This update will see the South East Asia country move from a first-to-use system to a first-to-file system replacing the existing practice of recording marks with the Office of Registration of Deeds (ORD).
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Update – International Trade Mark Registrations in the UK after Brexit
Further guidance from the UK Government has recently been release surrounding the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for international trade marks under the Madrid Protocol. As a result, Australian holders of existing IRs designating the EU will need to make decisions on whether or not to designate the UK in order to again receive the benefits of central management via WIPO for their mark.
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Protecting fashion
Unlike authors, musicians, playwrights, painters, sculptors, and even software coders, fashion designers in Australia have a more difficult time protecting their Drawings and Prints before releasing them into the market. This article explores the complex copyright challenges fashion designers face and what to be aware of in order to protect original work.
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COVID-19 stimulus measures present tax opportunities for investment in intellectual property assets
This article sets out the eligibility requirements for the Instant Asset Write Off (IAWO) and Backing Business Investment (BBI) incentive schemes and what business should consider when taking steps to protect their IP or bringing purchases forward to capitalise on measures announced in the Federal Government’s first COVID-19 Stimulus Plan provided in the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth).
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Opportunity for app developers to give views on app marketplaces
The second report in the ACCC’s digital platform services inquiry series is due to be released in March 2021, addressing app marketplaces. To support the coming report, the ACCC released an Issues Paper in September seeking the views of consumers and app developers, as well as businesses providing apps to customers and the app marketplaces themselves. This article outline the key issues this report will seek to address.
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ECJ case again upsets data transfers between the EU and the USA
The European Court of Justice has for a second time invalidated a protocol intended to permit transfers of personal data between the European Union and the United States. The decision in the Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland and Maximillian Schrems (Schrems II) raised questions about how organisations that are subject to the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) (GDPR) will comply with the GDPR’s stringent obligations when there is a need to disclose outside the EU.
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