Intellectual Property

Copyright - 1968

Examples (at least 2 each)

 Rapper Vanilla Ice was sued £2.8 million for copying

Queen’s and David Bowie’s famous guitar riff in ‘Ice
Ice Baby’ with his song, ‘Under Pressure’. (Smooth
Radio, 2018)
 Spotify was sued $2 billion (US) by a group of American songwriters including David
Lowery & Melissa Ferrick for failing to pay royalties in return for being able to stream
their songs. (Chau, 2018)

Registration required?

 There is NO registration system for copyright in Australia. Copyright protection is free and
applies automatically when material is created (lasts up to 70 years). (Auguste, 2019)

Act

 Australia operates under the Commonwealth Copyright Act 1968. This is federal legislation
and applies throughout Australia. Copyright protects creative material such as text, artistic
works, music, computer programs, sound recordings and films. It does not protect ideas,
concepts, styles or techniques.

Trademark - 1995

Examples (at least 2 each)

 A South Korean fried chicken restaurant called ‘Louis Vuiton Dak’ lost a trademark battle with
‘Louis Vuitton’ for name infringement. The packaging and logo were very similar too.
(TrademarkNow, 2016)
 ‘Adidas’ sued ‘Forever 21’ for producing and selling several products that infringed upon
Adidas’ trademark of ‘three stripes. (tpladmin, 2018)

Registration required?

 Trademarks must be registered to give exclusive rights to that mark (lasts up to 10 years).

Act

 Australia operates under the Trade Marks Act 1995. This is federal legislation and applies
throughout Australia. Trademarks gives exclusive rights to a mark. This can vary from a letter,
number, word, phrase, sound, smell, shape, logo, aspect of packaging or a combination of these.
(IP Australia, 2019)

Patent - 1990

Examples (at least 2 each)

 ‘Nintendo’ was forced to pay ‘Tomita Technologies International, Inc.’ a large sum for its 3D
gaming-system technology. (UpCounsel, n.d.)
 ‘Apple’ received $120 million from ‘Samsung’ in an infringement case revolving around Apple’s
‘slide-to-unlock’ patent. (Kastrennakes, 2017)
Registration required?

 Patents must be registered to give exclusive rights for a device,

substance, method or process. (standard lasts up to 20 years)

Act

 Australia operates under the Patents Act 1990. This is federal

legislation and applies throughout Australia.
(IP Australia, 2018)

References
Auguste, M. (2019). Legal & Ethical Powerpoint. Impacts of Technology.
Chau, D. (2018, January 2). Spotify sued $2b in copyright infringement lawsuit. Retrieved from ABC
News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-03/spotify-sued-for-copyright-infringement-2-
billion-dollar-lawsuit/9300926
IP Australia. (2018, November 22). Patent Basics. Retrieved from Ip Australia:
https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/understanding-patents/patent-basics
IP Australia. (2019, January 30). Trade Mark Basics. Retrieved from IP Australia:
https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/trade-marks/understanding-trade-marks
Kastrennakes, J. (2017, November 6). Apple has finally won $120 million from Samsung in slide-to-
unlock patent battle. Retrieved from The Verge:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/6/16614038/apple-samsung-slide-to-unlock-supreme-
court-120-million
Smooth Radio. (2018, June 24). 7 times artists sued others for copying their music. Retrieved from
Smooth Radio: https://www.smoothradio.com/features/copyright-infringement-cases-music/
tpladmin. (2018, June 4). Editorial Edition: 3 famous trademark infringement cases. Retrieved from
Trademarks & Patents: http://trademarkspatentslawyer.com/editorial-edition-three-famous-
trademark-infringement-cases/
TrademarkNow. (2016, September 6). 9 Nasty trademark infringement cases and how to avoid them.
Retrieved from Trade Mark Now: https://www.trademarknow.com/blog/9-nasty-trademark-
infringement-cases-and-how-to-avoid-them
UpCounsel. (n.d.). Famous patent infringement cases. Retrieved from UpCounsel:
https://www.upcounsel.com/famous-patent-infringement-cases