Nicholas Weston has staked out some pretty big territory. With its launch of the Australian Trade Marks Law Blog, the Melbourne-based law firm joins my list of favorite regional trademark law blogs. (Also on the list: Canadian Trademark Blog, Chicago IP Litigation Blog, and Vegas Trademark Attorney.) And what a territory it is — ATMLB aims to provide a “reliable source of information and commentary” on trademark issues throughout Australia.
Contributing IP attorneys Mark Davison, Neil Brown, Nick Weston, and Lea Lewin have recently addressed the registrability of scent marks in Australia, Europe, and the U.S.; the importance of entries in the Macquarie Dictionary, the “accepted dictionary of ‘Australian English,’” in establishing trademark distinctiveness; and an Australian court’s decision involving counterfeit dishwashing detergent. This is good stuff for anyone with trademark issues down under.
Australian trademark law: looks friendly but can be painful
ATMLB warns that Aussie law is full of quirks, like the Australian dialect of English. Or the platypus. It “can seem odd at first encounter. It is efficiently adapted to its environment. It looks like you could pat it. But it has a venomous spur on its hind legs that can cause excruciating pain.”
If ATMLB can help practitioners avoid that pain, it will become required reading. Glad to have you out there!