A recent decision in the Full Federal Court has shown that while manufacturers are generally free to make goods according to a design that is not registered, care must be taken to ensure that those products are branded in a way that distinguishes them from the market leader ...
In Esso Australia Pty Ltd v The Australian Workers' Union [2015] FCA 758, the Federal Court upheld the validity of some, but not all, orders made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) against industrial action at Esso's Longford Plant in Victoria ...
On 15 October 2012, the Federal Government announced the appointment of an expert panel to review pharmaceutical patents in Australia (Review). The Review will focus particularly on the extension of term provisions in Chapter 6, Part 3 of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth). Those provisions currently allow the extension of pharmaceutical patents up to five years beyond their standard 20-year term ...
Investments or acquisitions in convertible notes and options are now subject to the same approval requirements as investments or acquisitions in shares. The monetary thresholds applicable to private business investment have been raised with effect as of 1 January 2010 to total assets of the investee of A$231m and, for U.S. investors, A$1004m ...
On 15 December 2016, Foxtel and a number of movie studios secured the first site blocking orders in Australia. The orders of Nicholas J of the Federal Court require the major Australian ISPs to block access to a number of infamous sources of illegal content, namely, The Pirate Bay, TorrentHound, IsoHunt, Torrentz and SolarMovie (Pirate Sites) ...
As organisations start planning their post COVID-19 workforce arrangements, leaders need to consider how these new and amended work practices will help or hinder their efforts to strengthen their risk culture. While having a distributed workforce increases some challenges to improving risk culture, it also provides opportunities which need to be embraced. It is becoming increasingly clear that the post COVID-19 workplace will be very different to what it was before the pandemic ...
The 2023 Foreign Bank Tracker, now in its eighth year reveals capital flow trends into Australia via foreign banks, and market analysis of the results ...
On 1 August 2014, the Queensland government released consultation drafts of the Planning and Development Bill 2014 (P&D Bill) and the Planning and Environment Court Bill 2014 (PEC Bill). The draft Planning Bills are proposed to replace the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (Qld) (SPA) and seek to implement a new land-use planning and development assessment system that promotes prosperity through balancing economic growth, environmental protection and community wellbeing ...
What are some of the exciting developments we're seeing in transport? How can these be practically applied? We were delighted to host a Fast Track session as part of our sponsorship of Amplify, AMP’s innovation festival, where we explored how innovative high speed transportation systems will impact our future. But how can these new technologies be introduced into society? High speed transportation systems Long commutes could soon be history ...
Can a building name become a geographical indicator with the consequence that businesses operating from that building cannot include the name in their trade marks? The recent decision of the Federal Court in Mantra IP Pty Ltd v Spagnuolo [2012] FCA 769 has held that the mark "Q1" is inherently adapted to distinguish the services of the accommodation provider, Mantra IP Pty Limited (Mantra), even though "Q1" was also the name of the iconic high rise apartment in wh
The COVID-19 pandemic is having immediate and longer term impacts on the global economy and M&A activity. The crisis has resulted in important changes to the policies, rules and processes to be applied by many foreign investment and competition regulators, including Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ...
Increased deal activity is likely in Australia's health and aged care sector in 2016, driven by:• investment interest from China• Australian players targeting outbound opportunities through joint ventures and partnerships; and• consolidation in the aged and home care services areas.Rapidly ageing populations across our region are driving demand for high quality health care, especially in countries such as China and Japan ...
"The global healthcare deal frenzy is set to continue for at least another 18 months as technology giants including Amazon, strategic players and private equity firms step up their fight for limited assets ...
What needs to happen to secure the most sought-after international events on the sporting calendar? As Australia continues its reputation as a dependable major sports event host through the likes of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Invictus Games Sydney 2018, there has been an upsurge in interest from Australian cities, metropolitan and regional, to host major sporting events ...
In Australia, we're seeing enormous opportunities and some policy challenges in renewable energy ...
When things go wrong in a construction project, multiparty contractual relationships almost inevitably increase the difficulty of achieving a negotiated settlement. On the other hand, the motivations for settlement may remain strong, often in the hope of avoiding significant legal costs, saving time and preserving existing business relationships ...
The recent volcanic cloud and flight bans in Europe remind us of the damaging impact that mother nature can have on businesses. Even after the ash has cleared and flights are fully operational again, the extent of the disruption caused by the ash clouds may linger for many years in the form of contractual disputes ...
The renewed focus on the ’global tax share’ of OECD countries relative to the global profits of multinationals has reignited the debate about the adequacy and transparency of tax information in Australia. The following article considers the viability of recent proposals. In April 2013, Australia’s Assistant Treasurer released a discussion paper – Improving the transparency of Australia’s business tax system – that outlined three options for reform in this area ...
The government has released a discussion paper outlining proposals for the reform of Australia's insolvent trading laws designed to ensure that the insolvency laws complement and assist the conduct of workouts. The paper seeks submissions on issues that arise for directors from operation of the insolvent trading laws, particularly in the context of attempts at business rescue outside formal insolvency administrations ...
Recent publicity surrounding the exclusion or divestiture of stocks in carbon-intensive industries shows that leading investors are reviewing the financial risks (and opportunities) associated with climate change. However, with debate on climate change often pitched around ideological poles, many superannuation fund trustees are struggling to translate these developments into prudent governance practice, consistent with their statutory and general law duties ...
A landmark High Court decision handed down yesterday will have a significant impact on how regulators approach prosecutions of employers for breaches of occupational health and safety laws (OHS laws) across Australia ...
Introduction The term 'climate change' is now common parlance, but what role does green building play within the broader climate change picture? Well, emissions regulations post Kyoto are imminent and buildings are able to offer cost effective emissions cuts – there is therefore a possibility that the building sector may eventually be hit with emissions caps ...
2012 was a challenging year for Australia's loan markets. Australian loan markets were affected by continued uncertainty in global markets due to concerns over the Eurozone, the slowdown in China, a weak recovery in the US and, towards the end of the year, concerns around the US "fiscal cliff". Locally, there has been a lack of confidence among corporates, resulting in sluggish M&A activity. Certain sectors of the economy remained relatively soft, such as the retail sector ...
Media organisations and journalists will now need to be more cautious when entering into contracts with third parties for interviews and information, following the decision of the High Court in ACCC v Seven Network. The court held that section 65A of the Trade Practices Act (TPA) will not afford protection to a media organisation against section 52 of the TPA when it engages in chequebook journalism ...
As we navigate a rapidly changing digital landscape, upskilling our people continues to be a priority. In response, the innovators at MinterEllison developed Mintcoin, an internal crypto currency designed to reward participation in the firm’s Digital Academy program and innovation initiatives. We’re thrilled to announce that this initiative has secured MinterEllison a spot on the AFRs Most Innovative Companies list for 2023 ...
