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Trade mark win for Freehills

user iconLawyers Weekly 31 October 2005 NewLaw

A SENIOR associate from Freehills has won the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ) 2005 essay competition.Craig Smith, a member of the firm’s litigation group,…

A SENIOR associate from Freehills has won the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ) 2005 essay competition.

Craig Smith, a member of the firm’s litigation group, submitted a 12,000-word paper on trade mark protection for product shapes, where the trade mark owner asserts that the shape, or an aspect of it, is operating as a trademark. The competition required an unpublished essay on a topic of the author’s choice, which displayed original thinking in the area of intellectual property.

“The paper asked whether the Australian system has achieved a proper balancing of public interests, particularly when the potential impact on competition is considered,” he said. The paper argued that Australian law had not adequately explored the issues that arise when trade marks are extended to include product shapes, and suggested how public interests could be balanced.

Smith referred to Philips v Remington (1999), a case that Freehills was involved in, and the Kenman Kandy decision from 2002. As winner of the competition, Smith won $2000 plus airfares, accommodation and registration for the annual IPSANZ conference.

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