Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
For most businesses, the brand, the designs, the software and the customer data are worth more than the plant and equipment. Those assets are also the easiest to lose: through a poorly drafted contract, an unregistered trade mark, or a departing employee who takes the client list with him.
We advise individuals, business owners, founders, licensors, licensees and franchisors on protecting and enforcing intellectual property, and we act for them when something goes wrong.
Our work covers both getting the protection right in the first place, and fighting about it when it is infringed.
Protecting your IP
We can help you with:
- Trade mark clearance searching, filing and registration through IP Australia
- Trade mark oppositions, non-use removal applications and responses to adverse examination reports
- Business name, company name and domain name strategy, and how each interacts with trade mark rights
- Licensing, distribution and reseller agreements, including royalty and quality control terms
- Assignments of copyright and trade marks, and correcting the ownership problems that turn up in due diligence
- IP ownership clauses in employment, contractor and consultancy agreements
- Confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements and trade secret protection
- Restraint of trade and non-solicitation clauses
- Franchise systems and the IP that sits at the centre of them
- IP due diligence on the sale or purchase of a business, and warranties dealing with IP
- Registered design protection for the appearance of a product
- Advice on the use of third party content, images, music and open source software
IP disputes
We can help in disputes involving:
- Trade mark infringement and passing off
- Misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law, which often runs alongside a trade mark claim
- Copyright infringement, including software, drawings, plans, photographs, marketing material and website content
- Breach of confidence and misuse of trade secrets, customer lists and pricing information
- Departing employees, breach of restraint clauses and misuse of confidential information
- Domain name disputes
- Ownership disputes between founders, partners, shareholders and former collaborators
- Counterfeit and parallel import goods
- Trade mark oppositions and hearings before IP Australia
- Urgent injunctions to stop conduct before it does further damage
- Search Orders, where evidence is at risk of being destroyed. We also act as independent lawyers on Search Orders.
We act in the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit and Family Court, where most IP litigation is run, as well as in the South Australian courts.
We also work closely with patent and trade mark attorneys where specialist prosecution work is required, so you get the right advice on the technical side and the commercial and litigation side together.
Contact us
To discuss protecting or enforcing your intellectual property, contact Peter Charatsis or Brenton Priestley on 08 8221 6162, or email enquiries@pgclegal.com.au.