I admire inventors who have studied a problem, and then by their creativeness and perseverance, find a solution. Along the way to finding that solution, their invention in many instances is the product of trial and error. However, in my view the most interesting inventions are those that were created by accident. One of my...Read More

Australia like the United States has a “12 month” grace period for filing patent applications. This means that an owner/inventor has up to 1 year from their date of public disclosure to file patent applications in these countries. Whilst the US has such a grace period applying to design protection, Australia at present does not....Read More

IP Australia (AU Trade Marks Office) has recently reported that after filing trade marks in an export market, Australian businesses are three times more likely to enter that market. Also, long term exporters will earn around 30% more export revenue. After filing trade marks in export markets, businesses also become more resilient to exchange rate...Read More

Whilst it is possible for a business to adopt a trade mark for its goods and services without registering the mark, it is preferable to obtain registration of the trade mark. To ensure that a trade mark is registrable in Australia from the outset, you should not adopt a word mark that is descriptive of...Read More