Nestlé Australia Ltd and Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. acquisition of Fonterra's Peters ice cream business in Western Australia (WA)
Advisor to Nestlé Australia Ltd and Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. on their acquisition of Fonterra's Peters ice cream business in WA. Nestlé also acquired the gourmet ice cream brand Connoisseur together with rights to a number of other regional ice cream brands, including Memphis Meltdown. Nestlé now owns the best selling Peter's ice cream brand Australia wide.
Mars Australia v Sweet Rewards - Federal Court - IP Litigation
We succesfully defended Sweet Rewards Pty Ltd, the Australian distributor of Petra Foods Limited. Mars Australia alleged that its rights in the packaging of its iconic Maltesers product have been infringed by a “Malt Balls” chocolate ball product sold by Sweet Rewards. Sweet Rewards also supplies the same product (in different packaging) to Coles Supermarkets as part of its very successful “You'll Love Coles’ home brand range.
Wyeth merger with Pfizer
We are acting as Australian and New Zealand legal advisors for Wyeth on its merger with Pfizer. Wyeth and Pfizer have entered into a merger agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Wyeth in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approximately US$68 billion.The media has reported that the Pfizer/Wyeth merger is the biggest M&A deal announced in 2009.
Alphapharm Pty Ltd v H Lundbeck A/S & Lundbeck Australia Pty Ltd
Advisor to Alphapharm Pty Ltd in Federal Court of Australia pharmaceutical patent revocation and infringement proceedings. The patent purports to cover the anti-depressant medicine escitalopram (Lexapro) and is owned by a Dutch company, H Lundbeck A/S, and licensed to its Australian subsidiary, Lundbeck Australia Pty Ltd.
Telstra and AFL v News Ltd
Advisor to Telstra and the AFL in copyright infringement proceedings in the Federal Court against News Limited, whose newspaper subsidiaries unlawfully posted hyperlinks to AFL video files on YouTube. The case was one of great significance for online exploitation of sports rights because the infringement undermined the exclusive rights granted by the AFL to Telstra and risked jeopardising revenue that the AFL uses to fund development of the game.
Goodman Fielder Limited
Advisor to Quality Bakers Australia Pty Limited, a Goodman Fielder Group company, in Federal Court proceedings bought by George Weston Foods Limited. At issue was infringement and validity of an innovation patent owned by George Weston, in relation to Low GI (glycaemic index) white bread. The proceedings were significant because they involved the leading competitors in Australia’s bread industry.
Telstra Copyright Tribunal Proceedings with APRA/AMCOS
Advisor to Telstra in the Copyright Tribunal proceedings concerning APRA/AMCOS's proposed licensing scheme for digital music downloads. APRA/AMCOS is the copyright collecting society responsible for collecting certain royalties for music publishers, composers and lyricists. It has recently sought to raise the licence fee payable on all music downloads from a standard rate of eight per cent per track to 12 per cent per track - an increase of 50 per cent. Telstra is seeking to have the licence scheme amended to reduce the licence fees payable for music downloads, as well as to address a number of other aspects of the scheme.
Opera House
Advisor to the Sydney Opera House Trust in relation to brand and trade mark protection for the Sydney Opera House and its famous iconic building. This has involved securing novel trade marks for two representations of the Opera House building and devising and implementing an overall brand enforcement campaign.
IceTV Pty Limited & Anor v Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd
By a 6:0 decision, the High Court determined that IceTV (which makes electronic program guides) was entitled to copy parts of the Nine Network's weekly schedules. We acted for Telstra Corporation Limited, successfully intervening in the appeal as amicus curiae. This is the first time the High Court has given detailed consideration to the question of copyright in compilations.
Telstra Corporation Limited and Sensis Pty Ltd v Phone Directories Pty Ltd & Ors
Advisor to Telstra/Sensis on registering the colour yellow for its Yellow Pages® directories and related products. This matter brings together our in-depth understanding of the client and its business, as well as our intellectual property expertise.
Lonely Planet - website relaunch and other digital media projects
We act for Lonely Planet in regards to its new focus on Web 2.0 and mobile technologies, enabling travellers from all around the globe to access Lonely Planet’s advice via various digital technology platforms. It has also has relaunched its updated website. Mallesons has given Lonely Planet strategic legal advice on its digital strategy, looking at risks and regulatory issues in areas such as content regulation, user generated content, and copyright.
LexisNexis: defending copyright claim brought by John Fairfax Publications
Advisor to LexisNexis in its defence of copyright infringement proceedings regarding the use of headlines from the Australian Financial Review in LexisNexis’ subscription news abstract service, known as ABIX.
“The Secret” litigation
We represent Drew Heriot, the director of the best selling DVD, “The Secret”, in copyright litigations against the producer of “The Secret”. Drew Heriot was not paid for this work, and is claiming a half interest in the copyright in “The Secret” DVD and book series, and half the royalties.
Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc. -v- SmithKline Beecham Biologicals SA - Federal Court - patent litigation
This was an appeal by SKB Inc from Novartis' successful opposition to SKB's patent application for a multivalent ('multishot') vaccine. SKB's patent application has been litigated in many jurisdictions by Novartis. We were retained by FB Rice (leading Australian life science patent attorneys) to act for Novartis and contest SKB's appeal to the Federal Court.
“Clients return to the practice here time and again for its ‘responsive and accommodating advisers’, who are just as at home whether dealing with contentions or non-contentious matters.”
Chambers Global Guide 2006-2007