Edwina Whitby

Fast food giant McDonald’s has resolved its dispute over misleading burger ads by Hungry Jack’s, ending a heated four-year courtroom battle.

Aristocrat has asked the High Court to rule once and for all on whether its popular Lightning Link game is patentable, after a differently comprised court was evenly split on the question.

A judge has allowed Aristocrat to appeal a judge’s rejection of its application to patent its Lightning Link poker machine, citing novel questions raised by an equally split High Court decision about the patentability of its invention.

In a continuing fight over damages stemming from misleading burger ads, McDonald’s has opposed production of sales information to Hungry Jack’s directors and its top executive, saying the information was confidential and the companies “fierce competitors”.

A judge has ruled gaming giant Aristocrat Technologies cannot patent its Lightning Link electronic poker machine, after six High Court Justices split on whether the popular game was eligible for patent protection.

Hungry Jack’s is seeking five years of Big Mac sales data as it readies for a fight over damages stemming from its claim that its Big Jack burger has 25 per cent more beef than the McDonald’s burger.

The maker of Finish dishwashing products, RB Hygiene, has won a partial appeal in a trade mark stoush with rival Henkel, with the Full Court reviving two of its trade marks but rejecting its challenge to a logo for competing Somat-branded products.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has lost its opposition to the registration of three trade marks by pay on demand company BeforePay, with a delegate finding that consumers of banking and financial services were unlikely to be confused by the marks and acted with high “care and attention”. 

A judge has rejected McDonald’s claim that Hungry Jack’s Big Jack burger infringed its Big Mac trade mark, but found that Hungry Jack’s misled consumers by boasting that its burger had 25 per cent more beef.

The maker of Mother energy drinks has won an appeal of an IP Australia decision, succeeding in its bid to prevent a Victoria-based company from registering Kangaroo Mother as a trade mark for beverages.