Business and Domain Names

A domain name search can be undertaken to determine whether a trade mark has been registered as a domain name. With the internet becoming central to international commerce (and in light of the practice of certain persons to “pirate” well known names and register them as domain names) it is important to consider domain name registration. However a domain registration does not provide any proprietary trade mark rights, unlike the benefit of registration under the Trade Marks Act 1995.

If a person, partnership or company carries on business under a name other than its own, that name must be registered under the relevant business names legislation of each state and territory in which business is conducted.

Our Trade Marks Team will be able to assist you with any enquiries relating to Business and Domain Names.

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Confidential Information

Confidential information is information that must be kept confidential by the recipient. When the confidential information is kept secret and used properly, this form of protection may be very effective. The terms ‘confidential information’ and ‘trade secrets’ are often used interchangeably
but strictly speaking, trade secrets are a subset of confidential information in the context of business, commerce or trade. Other forms of confidential information include personal information (e.g. diaries, photographs) or professional information (e.g. information supplied to a lawyer or accountant in the course of his/her professional duties).

Our Commercialisation Team will be able to assist you with any enquiries relating to Confidential Information.

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Copyright

Copyright protects against unauthorised reproductions and public disseminations of an original work. Copyright protects the particular expression of an idea – not the idea itself. Consequently, copyright does not prevent the use of the same idea, as long as the ‘expression’ of the idea is original.‘Original’ does not mean the work needs to be particularly creative or ingenious. A work is ‘original’ where the work is created independently and skill, labour and judgment is applied to it.
Copyright may exist in a range of creative, intellectual or artistic subject matter. There are eight primary categories of protected forms of expression:

	Literary works
	Artistic works
	Dramatic works
	Musical works
	Cinematographic works
	Sound recordings
	Broadcasts
	Published editions

Note that computer software is included in the definition of “literary work”.

Copyright comes into existence as soon as an original work has been reduced to a material form, e.g. by writing or storage in a computer memory from which it can be retrieved.

Copyright law is a complex area and specific advice concerning any copyright matter may be sought from SPRUSON & FERGUSON LAWYERS.

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Plant Breeder's Rights

The Plant Breeder’s Rights Act 1994 provides the breeder of a plant variety which is registered under the Act with an exclusive right to produce or reproduce propagating material from the plant variety, and to sell, condition for sale, import or export such material. Under certain circumstances, rights may also extend to material which is harvested from the plant. Rights may also extend to “essentially derived varieties”.

Our Life Sciences Team will be able to assist you in relation to Plant Breeder's Rights.