News
Domain Names at Risk for Both Franchisors and Offshore Entities
By Devin Elliott, Law Graduate 1 – The New Rules Impacting Offshore Entities Under the old rules, offshore entities with no Australian connection could register any domain name in the .com.au and .net.au name spaces, provided they held or applied for an Australian trade mark registration. For example, the owner of the registered trade mark…
Trade Marks: Even the Big can Fall
By Louise Wolf, Senior Associate In a David versus Goliath type battle, McDonalds lost its rights to the registered trade mark for Big Mac. After being registered since 1996, the registration for Big Mac was revoked in January 2019 by the European Union Trade Mark Office. What went so wrong? What does this mean for…
Don’t Bank Your Reputation On Generic Terms: “COMMUNITY BANK” Removed From Trade Mark Register
The Federal Court has ordered that two “Community Bank” trade marks of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank be removed from the register due to a lack of distinctiveness and a lack of evidence of use prior to filing almost 20 years ago. This case highlights that even long registered trade marks consisting of common terms may be at risk if they were not sufficiently distinguishable from the goods and services of other traders at the time they were filed.
MST Lawyers – Winners of the MYOB FCA Supplier of the Year Award
MST Lawyers was honoured and delighted to receive this year’s Supplier of the Year Award at the MYOB FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards on 10 October 2017. The Award recognises supplier excellence in contributing to the franchising sector and helping franchising clients achieve their goals.