A nearly 100-year-old Bordeaux estate that makes the Vieux Château Certan wine, which retails for at least $500, has taken a Tasmanian winemaker to court for allegedly trying to hijack its name and making knockoff wines that copy its distinctive pink lid and neck of its bottles.
California-based fitness company Mad Dogg has accused Peloton Interactive of inducing breach of a non-compete through its $US420 million acquisition of commercial gym equipment manufacturer Precor, and has asked a court to block the company from using its ‘spinning’ trade marks in relation to its interactive exercise bikes.
Queensland rail operator Aurizon has been sued for breach of contract and “flagrant” copyright infringement for allegedly using software produced by French software giant Dassault without the necessary licence.
Lawyers welcomed the government’s “overdue” announcement of a so-called patent box that will slash the tax rate on income derived from patented drug and biotech inventions developed in Australia, but called on the government to apply the regime to other sectors.
AGL Energy has dragged Greenpeace Australia Pacific to court for using its logo in a campaign that labelled the company “Australia’s biggest climate polluter” and accused it of “significant environmental breaches”.
The Corner Hotel is taking another stab at cancelling a rival club’s ‘jazz corner’ and ‘jazz corner hotel trade marks’, after a judge found the marks did not infringe the famed Richmond pub’s ‘corner’ trade marks.
The Australian arm of Fuchs Lubricants has succeeded in invalidating two patents owned by Quakers Chemicals, with the Full Federal Court finding the inventions were not novel because Quakers had tested them in public prior to applying for registration with IP Australia.
Generic drug company Pharmacor has fired back in a patent lawsuit by Novartis, filing a cross-claim seeking to invalidate the Swiss drug giant’s patents for its blockbuster MS drug Gilenya.
K&L Gates has bolstered its Australian intellectual property team by nabbing a leading IP lawyer and partner from rival Herbert Smith Freehills.
A judge has ordered mining magnate Clive Palmer to pay damages of $1.5 million to Universal Music for his “contemptuous” behaviour in infringing “substantial parts” of Twisted Sister’s 1985 heavy metal hit ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ in advertisements for his political party.