News Bulletin
Fisher Adams Kelly Client Showered With Success On World Stage
The future looks bright for Australian innovators, if the success of Fisher Adams Kelly client, Nick Christy, is anything to go by. Nick's Water Recycling Shower recently took out top gong in the Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, netting his company a 500,000 Euro first prize and congratulatory messages from Bill Clinton, Richard Branson and Brad Pitt.
Considering Mr Christy's innovation saves 70% less water and 70% less energy than a regular shower, it's no surprise it has now been recognised on the world stage, a win that casts a greater spotlight on Australia as a hotbed of innovation and highlighted the importance of protecting a business' intellectual property.
The Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge win follows a year of home runs for several businesses Fisher Adams Kelly advises on intellectual property protection, proving that Australian innovation is far from flagging.
Just several weeks before the Recycling Shower received international praise, one of the Firm's other clients, Edward Evans, was announced as ‘Inventor of The Year’ on ABC’s The New Inventors program for his innovation, The Swing Gate. The gate is designed to reduce injuries (from serious to fatal) resulting from livestock charging in confined spaces, such as a cattle truck or a cattle yard.
“It has been a great year for our clients receiving recognition of their achievements and Fisher Adams Kelly has been proud to assist with the early identification and protection of their intellectual property,” Managing Partner, Dr Horsburgh explains.
“I believe the more Australia is recognised for leading-edge, inventive thinking, the more other organisations will start to look at protecting their own IP. Since intellectual property is poised to be the currency of the future, this will ultimately put Australia on a much stronger footing globally, moving forward,” says Dr Horsburgh.
Both of the Firm's awarded clients are moving to roll out production of their respective products further, with the Water Recycling Shower using its prize money to hasten the speed with which showers are brought to market, while The Swing Gate is already being distributed and retrofitted to cattle yards across the country.
McDonald's To Lose Heart Foundation Tick
By Danielle Jepson
Fast food giant McDonald's has been using the Heart Foundation Tick on a range of its food products for the past 5 years, paying up to $300,000 per year for the privilege. However yesterday, the chain was informed that they would no longer be able to do so.
Foundation Chief Executive Lyn Roberts said yesterday there was no criticism of McDonald's or other chains, but that the healthy food program would change direction to concentrate on ingredients delivered to restaurants and food outlets. However, the move comes after years of criticism from nutrition industry bodies for allowing the Heart Foundation Tick to be used endorsing fast food chains that sell primarily high fat, high salt and high calorie food products.
A number of smaller takeaway chains, including the gourmet pizza group Crust, will also lose the right to display the Tick Device, but the symbol will remain on supermarket foods. Contracts with the takeaway groups will be honoured, with the Tick phased out on fast foods from the first half of next year.
The Australian Heart Foundation Tick (“Tick Device”) is a self-funded public health program which aims to improve the nutrition of the foods Australians eat most often and deliver better nutritional health outcomes for all Australians. The National Heart Foundation have held a range of certification trade marks for the Tick Device since the late 80s.
Certification trade marks "certify" that the goods or services in respect of which they are used are of a particular standard with regard to quality, accuracy or other characteristics. The Tick Device has been used on food products that meet strict nutritional criteria and represent choices that are lower in certain nutrients (e.g. saturated fat, sodium) and/or higher in others (e.g. fibre) compared with other foods in the same food category.
Owners of certification trade marks must ensure that licensees are not only using the trade marks in accordance with the approved criteria, but also, be mindful of the image the licensee is projecting to the marketplace. The actions and image portrayed by the licensees in the marketplace will affect the public view of the certification trade mark.
For more information about certification trade mark rights, please contact the Fisher Adams Kelly Trade Marks Team on (07) 3229 2655.
What's in a Name? Protecting Your Pharma Brand
To successfully market a pharmaceutical product in Australia, it is important to effectively manage the branding of your product through careful selection of a trade mark, labels, marketing slogan, company name, logo and company image. A well-chosen and registered pharmaceutical trade mark will provide you with a valuable proprietary right to use, and prevent others from using that trade mark.
When selecting a trade mark for a pharmaceutical product, there are a number of general considerations, and a number of considerations particular to pharmaceuticals.
Generally, you should ensure that a chosen mark is distinctive and is not descriptive of the therapeutic goods to which the mark is applied; identical or similar to a registered trade mark for similar products; similar to a well known trade mark which has acquired a reputation in Australia; or a geographic name or common name of persons.
Particular to pharmaceuticals, you should firstly ensure that the selected mark is not substantially identical to a notified International Non-Proprietary Name (INN) or identical to a notified INN stem (generic stem). INNs are generic names indicating the pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients which are identified by the World Health Organization. Generally, INNs or INN stems are not available for trade mark registration for pharmaceutical goods. INN stems are intended for use by medical practitioners, pharmacists, or anyone dealing with pharmaceutical products to enable them to recognize that the substance belongs to a group of substances having similar pharmacological activity.
For example, if you wish to register the trade mark BLUCAINE, the Trade Marks examiner will require the following endorsement on the registration:
It is a condition of registration that any use in respect of pharmaceuticals will be limited to such goods containing substances belonging to the pharmacological group designated by the International Non-Proprietary Name stem CAINE.
The stem –caine in the INN system refers to substances containing local anaesthetics. The Office will not accept the application for registration of this mark without the endorsement.
A full list of INN stems can be found here: http://www.who.int/medicines/services/inn/StemBook2009.pdf
A further requirement to be considered when selecting a trade mark for your pharmaceutical product is that the mark meets the requirements under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth) ("the TGA Act") in respect of selection of trade/brand names for therapeutic goods, if you intend to register or list your product on the ARTG. The TGA will closely examine the trade mark (brand name) of the product to ensure that the name, once registered or listed, will not mislead or confuse the public. In determining whether to grant approval for registration or listing, the TGA considers, inter alia, under section 3(5) of the TGA Act, “If a name applied to the goods is the same as the name applied to other therapeutic goods that are supplied in Australia where those other goods contain additional or different therapeutically active ingredients.”
In respect of prescription medicines, the Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Prescription Medicines set out the factors which need to be taken into account when assessing a proposed trade/brand name for prescription medicines. A proposed trade/brand name for prescription medicines should not (inter alia): “…be able to be confused with another trade/brand name of an existing product either when spoken or written down.”
If the proposed name for the prescription medicine or product is not acceptable, the sponsor will be requested to change the name.
In conclusion, careful and considered selection of a trade mark for your pharmaceutical product is essential. Prosecution costs can be greatly minimized, and you have a strong mark with which to market your product. An experienced trade marks attorney can be invaluable in assisting with the searching and selection process.