Trade mark infringement – an introduction

  In Australia, trade mark law is a type of intellectual property (“IP”) administered by common law principles and the the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) (TMA). What is a trademark and what forms can a trade mark be? The TMA defines a trade mark as: a sign used, or intended to be used, to distinguish goods…

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Cyber Squatting and Domain Name Retention

Business owners and traders often fall victim to Cyber Squatting when another party sits on a similar domain name with the intention of exploiting the business owner. We look at the issues surrounding Cyber Squatting and Domain Name Retention. Cyber Squatting occurs when a person or company registers a domain name which is similar to the domain…

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Inherently adapted to distinguish – using foreign words as trade marks

Take home points 1. Trade marks used to distinguish goods and services for businesses. A trade mark must be “inherently adapted” to the goods/services in which they are being sought (e.g. not merely descriptive) in order to be registered and protected. 2. The correct test to assess the inherent adaptability of a proposed mark is…

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