Australia
Australian consumer protection body calls Steam’s return policy a bunch of hot air
If you’re a gamer, you’re probably familiar with the Steam game distribution platform, estimated to account for 75 percent of all online game purchases. Online game purchases have surged in recent years, owing greatly to their convenience — one can buy a game from home and play it nearly immediately. However, as sales have grown, […]
Should Canada Adopt an “Innovation Patent System” to Promote Small to Medium Enterprises?
The “innovation patent system”, a second-tier patent system unique to Australia, was introduced in 2001 by the Australian Parliament to promote the growth of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing a relatively quick and cost-effective process to obtain patent protection for lower-level or incremental inventions. The World Intellectual Property Office refers to Australian-type “second-tier patents” as […]
The ‘Myriad’ with the Golden ‘Gene’: Australia Upholds Breast Cancer Gene Patents
The Myriad Genetics gene patenting saga has officially shaped international jurisprudence, with the Federal Court of Australia upholding the patents for BRCA1 and BRCA2. In Cancer Voices Australia v. Myriad Genetics, NSD643/2010, Federal Court of Australia (Sydney), the first Australian case to deal with the issue of gene patents, the Court took a similarly liberal […]
Artwork to Ashes, Brands to Dust: Australia’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act Held Constitutionally Valid
Put this in your pipe and smoke it: The High Court of Australia recently ruled that the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act withstands constitutional scrutiny, in JT International SA v Commonwealth of Australia. Retailers and smokers will thus soon find themselves scrutinizing things as well, in order to distinguish between identical cigarette packages stripped of all branding and trade-marks.