The Federal Court has dealt US drug giant Merck Sharp & Dohme a devastating blow, overturning an “untenable” patent term extension which would have protected the monopoly of its multibillion-dollar Januvia and Janumet diabetes drugs beyond July 2o22.
The right approach to determining patentability of a computer-implemented invention is to first assess whether it is more than a mere scheme or business method, the Full Federal Court has been told in an appeal of a ruling backing IP Australia’s revocation of two patents by plumbing company Repipe.
Swiss pharmaceutical company Biogen has filed another lawsuit accusing an Australian generic drug manufacturer of infringing the patent for its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera.
Service station giant Ampol has lost its bid to force petrol station chain EG Fuel Co to allow it access to 87 Caltex sites so they can be rebranded to Ampol stations, with a judge finding it would cause EG “obvious disruption”.
A high-energy trade mark dispute has gone to the Federal Court after the maker of Mother energy drinks lost its bid before IP Australia to prevent a Victoria-based company from registering Kangaroo Mother as a trade mark for beverages.
A New Zealand-based association representing manuka honey beekeepers has lost its opposition to an application for the ‘Australian Manuka’ trade mark by a Byron Bay honey producer, with IP Australia finding the word ‘manuka’ did not specifically refer to honey made in NZ.
Popular American restaurant chain In-N-Out Burger is seeking to fast-track a trade mark lawsuit against an Australian food business which operates four “ghost kitchens”, citing negative reviews from allegedly misled customers.
New-Zealand dairy company a2 Milk has lost its opposition to registration by food and beverage giant Nestle of its NAN A2 trade mark for infant formula, with a delegate of the Trade Marks Office finding the mark was not substantially identical to a2’s logo.
The Sydney Opera House Trust is suing a China trade group, accusing the organisation of flagrant copyright infringement for reproducing substantial portions of the iconic landmark’s trade mark-protected sail design in its logo.
A judge has found artificial intelligence can be named as the inventor on a patent application, setting aside an IP Australia finding that allowing a machine to be considered an inventor would render the Patents Act incapable of “sensible operation”.