Latest publications
How to sell your business, tax effectively
Too often business owners fail to take advantage of the generous capital gains tax (CGT) concessions available when selling a business. It takes hard work and dedication to build and manage a successful business, but all that effort could amount to very little if you end up being hit with high CGT…
Advanced Care Directives
In Brief In this article, we examine Advanced Care Directives (ACDs) and how they can be used to assist your loved ones to make decisions about your medical treatment in circumstances where you lack the capacity to make such decisions for yourself. What is an ACD? An ACD is a document which sets…
Who owns your Intellectual Property?
In Brief Intellectual Property (“IP”) may appear to be intangible but it could be the most valuable asset your business possesses. It is therefore vital to determine who actually owns your IP. The ownership of company names and business names is often a subject of confusion. The fact that you have registered…
Penalties in Commercial Contracts
In Brief In our previous issue, we examined the general law of penalties in contracts, particularly in light of the recent High Court decision, which held that credit card late payment fees charged by ANZ were not penalties.[1] The significance of a clause being regarded as a penalty is that it is…
AdWords: Paragons or Parasites?
Summary A recent Federal Court case has affirmed the position in Australia that the use of AdWords generally does not constitute trade mark infringement because it does not represent trade mark use. AdWords “AdWords” are marketed by Google and they can be very frustrating to the owners of well-known brands. AdWords…
An IP Health Check could save the life of your business
The heart of your business may well be its intellectual property (“IP”). IP is simply the legal property in the innovation in your business and it is that innovation which drives your revenue and profit growth. Your IP needs a regular health check. It should be identified and protected so that the…
Do we have to do what we are paid to do?
In Oliver Stone’s film Platoon, we see the experience of a young recruit in Vietnam. His sergeant reinforces his intolerance for any deviation from the command and control management system at the core of the military in a conflict zone thus: “Now, I got no fight with any man who does what he’s told…
The Hunger Games have arrived: HR are now the hunted!
One of the purposes of someone forming a company is to enable an enterprise to trade to the extent of the resources of the company. The intention of this structure is to allow people to start an enterprise — be innovative — and if it doesn’t work, to be able to…
Trade mark quality control sorts the geese from the turkeys
In Brief The recent decision of the Full Federal Court in Lodestar Anstalt v Campari America LLC [2016] FCAFC 92 means that it is now not enough to simply have the existence of quality control provisions in a trade mark licence. The licensor has an additional obligation to actively monitor the performance…
Penalties in Contracts
Penalties in Contracts The basic principle of Australian contract law is freedom of contract. However, like freedom in general, freedom of contract is subject to limitations. One such limitation is that a provision in a contract that seeks to impose a penalty on a contracting party, is not enforceable. What is a penalty? In its basic…