While the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set out to rein in the market power of Google and Facebook, the sweeping proposals in the regulator’s final digital platforms report would affect a large number of businesses and could have a detrimental effect on smaller companies and innovation, lawyers say.
The government has thrown its weight behind the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s call for checking the power of Facebook and Google, in a long-awaited final report that recommends a sweep of measures to crack down on the digital giants, and extend well beyond them.
Rival firms Apple Inc and Swatch AG have both failed in their opposition to the other’s trade mark extension application, with a delegate for the trade marks office allowing Apple’s Tick Different and Swatch’s Think Different to proceed to registration in Australia.
Patents at the centre of a high stakes IP dispute between tech giants Motorola and Hytera have significantly more than the necessary “scintilla of inventiveness” to be deemed valid, Motorola said on the first day of a month-long trial.
Apple has been granted a patent for an animation-generating user interface for its iPhone and iPad devices, beating back multiple adverse examination reports that described the invention as a presentation of “aesthetic content” that solved the problem “providing users with something engaging to look at”.
Internet service provider Dodo has agreed to refund up to $360,000 to about 16,000 customers after an investigation by the consumer watchdog into potentially misleading marketing claims about video streaming on its National Broadband Network plans.
Printer giant Seiko Epson has won its cross-appeal against cartridge reseller Calidad in a Full Federal Court decision that further clarifies the extent to which patentees can prevent those acquiring a patent’s title from repurposing or manipulating the original product.
Casino and mobile game giant Aristocrat Technologies has sued rival Ainsworth Game Technology for alleged copyright infringement and breaches of Australian consumer law following the suspected theft of trade secrets by an employee.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has commenced legal action against Samsung Electronics for allegedly making false, misleading and deceptive representations when marketing the water resistant capabilities of its Galaxy smartphones.
A former Commonwealth Bank executive facing criminal commercial bribery charges has been ordered to hand over a number of documents in a US lawsuit brought by IT company Computer Sciences Corporation, but has avoided orders compelling him to take the witness stand.