Law Articles - January to March 2011

The following articles were gratefully supplied by Dilanchian Lawyers and Consultants - Intellectual Property and Innovation Professionals.

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IP lawyers for creative destruction

Wednesday, 30 March 2011
As lawyers specialising in intellectual property and business law we're seeing in 2011 a spike of creative destruction at work in the economy, law and in legal practice.

What is the flow of this high level of change, what's fueling it, how can your business respond? This post is a brief enquiry into these questions.

We are asking these questions because economics, technology and business changes take place generally well before law changes in response. Understand the former and you'll be better at anticipating the latter.

8 ways to increase business valuation

Monday, 28 March 2011
If you are planning to sell a business or major asset what can you do to increase its valuation or perceived value? Here is a list of eight ideas in no particular order of importance.

Standard trade mark licence?

Thursday, 24 March 2011
A standard trade mark licence does not exist. If what you seek is a short and basic trade mark licence agreement of say two pages length, then yes, we can assist. So can many other IP lawyers and probably even general business lawyers. And it could be prepared for a low fee.

Would you be comfortable with a short and basic trade mark licence agreement? A missing feature can hurt in some eventualities, especially if you are the trade mark owner.

Intellectual property commercialisation simplified

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

To get an intellectual property monopoly you need more than legal knowledge. You and your advisers must understand and apply know-how relating to commercialisation, which American cousins spell commercialization. Here's what we do for clients. To test client product or service ideas, innovations and inventions my firm uses a lot of different questionnaires, checklists and other template-based document types. We supply them via email. For us and for clients these documents save time and hence money and generally help get better results, faster. For clients it's a convenience to not have to come into our office for a long meeting.

What trade mark professionals do

Tuesday, 08 March 2011

Anyone can apply to register a trade mark. To obtain the strongest protection usually requires working with lawyers and other professionals with up-to-date knowledge, resources and experience. The hurdles and risks of do-it-yourself trade mark filing are many. If minimising costs is your aim then you can do it yourself. If the aim is to build higher quality monopoly legal rights, held by an appropriate owner, and growing as a long-term investment then engage professionals.

Mobile phone apps lawyers

Thursday, 24 February 2011

Which smartphone operating systems ("OS") are currently in play, how do they rate, and what Android OS market share statistics are there? Helping to frame this question, Choice, the Australian consumer magazine and online service, has published its latest mobile phone analysis titled Touchscreen mobile phones review (registration required).

Not just trade mark registration

Monday, 21 February 2011

Brand creation and legal protection of of a name requires more than just trade mark registration. What you register as a trade mark should fit within what we call your overall brand architecture. Brand architecture is a systematic way of organising the identity of the different products, services, messages, or elements of an organisation so that people both within and outside the organisation understand its brands.

Music lawyer on business online

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

When I started building a home media centre last year I discovered something unexpected. My focus was on building a living room hifi system. I wanted it for lossless computer-stored music (I use a Mac and iTunes), not MP3s, iPods, vinyl or CDs. Being a music lawyer I'm into advice. I asked a audiophile friend for advice, he suggested certain brands and product types and recommended an experienced local hifi shop owner.

Unfair contracts or terms are unenforceable

Monday, 14 February 2011

From January 2011, as part of the new Australian Consumer Law, a national unfair contracts legal regime affects contracts with consumers. Section 23 of the new Competition and Consumer Act 2010 makes a term in a consumer contract void if the term is unfair and the contract is a standard form contract. Let's examine those prerequisites from a consumer's perspective. Am I a consumer? You are a consumer if you acquire goods or services to an amount that does not exceed $40,000. Goods or services costing more than $40,000 are covered if they are of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption.

How to improve contract drafting legal services

Friday, 21 January 2011

The responsibility for producing faster, better and more economical legal work falls on lawyers, as well as clients. Consider the client side of costs for contract drafting. Fees will be higher if key business, commercial or technical considerations (collectively "management needs") are not dealt with before going to a contract drafting lawyer for "legal services". It has to cost more to have the lawyer provide legal services as well as deal with or resolve management needs.

5 key contracts for an online business

Thursday, 20 January 2011

An online business website typically requires five key legally binding contracts. They form the foundation for building an online business. No online business can live without them. If they are not in place, or they are poorly prepared or assessed, any one of them can at any stage weaken or ruin a business.
So what are the five key contracts for an online business?

Contract Drafting Tips Series: Recitals

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

In 2004 the Winklevoss brothers sued Facebook saying they were robbed. Under a deal resulting from mediation they got a reported $US65 million (in a combination of shares and cash). In return Facebook bought, and subsequently closed, their competing social network, ConnectU. The deal was consummated in a February 2008 "Terms Sheet and Settlement Agreement". In April 2010 the Winklevoss brothers commenced appeal proceedings seeking to unravel that Agreement. Why?

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