Strategic IP Support since 1997
Recent Insights & News
Built Before the Fight: What May’s IP Decisions Reward
Strip the case names away and one pattern runs through this month’s posts: the decisive moment in an IP matter almost never happens in the courtroom. It happens years earlier — in the words drafted into a claim, the honesty of a brand at first use, the rigour of a specification, the provenance of training…
When Your Own Words Become Your Cage: The Cost of Claim Drafting Choices
A decade-long battle over an anti-scaling method for the Bayer process has just delivered a sharp reminder that patent claims are commercial instruments, not afterthoughts. In Nalco Company v Cytec Industries Inc [2026] FCAFC 72, the Full Federal Court upheld findings that Nalco’s original claims failed the post-Raising the Bar support and sufficiency thresholds —…
You Can’t Backdate Honesty
A catchy name and a fast start built a billion-dollar lending business — but neither could rescue the trade mark when it mattered most. Australia’s High Court has now confirmed that the “honest concurrent use” defence to trade mark infringement is judged at the moment a business first uses the mark, not years later when…
The Licence to Train: Brussels Reopens the Copyright Bargain
The European Commission has launched a call for evidence on targeted measures to modernise the EU copyright framework, with generative AI at the centre. It is asking, in plain terms, how rights should be licensed and enforced in the context of generative AI — and has put a potential legislative initiative squarely on the table.…
When Your Patent Isn’t Built for the Road Ahead
How quickly a patent can lose its strategic value when the underlying disclosure isn’t built to withstand real‑world scrutiny. In the Federal Court’s decision in Orikan v VMS (No 2), Orikan’s infringement case faltered on multiple grounds, but most interestingly because the patent specification couldn’t carry the weight placed on it — with the Court…
