Knowledge

As Australia starts to ease out of COVID lockdown, the ACT Government has announced that the capital’s cafes, restaurants and bars can begin to welcome more customers, provided they sign up to the Territory’s bespoke Check In CBR app. 

Important changes to Australian Government procurement come into effect on 14 December 2020. They require Australian Government officials to consider new factors in deciding how to award valuable contracts to tenderers. 

The Australian arm of the Adani Group has announced a rebrand, now to be known as Bravus.

The famously anonymous street artist Banksy has lost a legal challenge concerning one of his best-known works, “Love is in the Air”, also known as “The Flower Thrower”. Full Colour Black, a UK greetings card business, successfully contested Bansky’s application to register the painting as a trade mark, in a case which neatly highlights the differences between trade mark rights and copyright.

It has recently been reported that Tom Petty’s family have issued a cease and desist warning aimed at preventing the US President Donald Trump from using Tom Petty songs at or in conjunction with presidential campaign events.

The lid has been lifted on intellectual property rights associated with peanut butter trade dress and branding. This interesting trade dress case sees Kraft all dressed up with no place to go, other than an appeal to the High Court. 

In the wake of the 2019/20 Australian Bushfire crisis, comedian Celeste Barber took to Facebook to launch her NSW RFS bushfire fundraiser, with the intention and constant reassurance that the funds would be going to those victims who needed it most. 

Led Zeppelin band members and fans were relieved when a recent decision of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals preserved the jury verdict that the Led Zeppelin iconic rock song “Stairway to Heaven” did not infringe the copyright of the Spirit song, “Taurus” (the Stairway to Heaven case).

If you are at a trivia night, and the question is “what product in Australia is well known with reference to the initials ‘VB’”, there is a reasonable chance a lot of people would answer “Victoria Bitter” beer. Victoria Bitter is well known in Australia simply with reference to “VB”.

Last week a code for commercial rent relief was announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. It lists 14 principles that the Federal Government believes should be applied when a landlord and tenant negotiate to mitigate rent costs for tenants whose business is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.