Author Archive for: ‘cjdavies’
Spinning the wheel – Star Wars Battlefront 2 brings gambling regulatory spotlight on lootboxes
If you have more than the most passing of interests in the video game industry, you will know that the hot topic in the field for the past few weeks has been the use of “lootboxes” by Electronic Arts as a reward system in their new title Star Wars: Battlefront 2. The consumer backlash to EA has been dramatic. Market …
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Not all fun and games in copycat litigation
The gaming industry (and gamers) will be watching two recent US cases with great anticipation. In these cases, law suits have been brought against alleged copycat games, relying on causes of action including copyright, trade dress and patent infringement. The decisions raise the important and interesting question – can you protect the rules and implementation of a game? What about …
Read MoreThe ALRC releases Discussion Paper on “Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era”
As we foreshadowed last month, the Australian Law Reform Commission has recently released Discussion Paper 80, on “Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era”. The terms of reference for the discussion paper were to investigate the ways in which law can protect the privacy interests of the public, and in particular, come up with detailed mechanics for a new …
Read MoreQuality, not quantity, the key to inventorship
Neobev Pty Limited v Bacchus Distillery Pty Limited (Administrators Appointed)[1], a decision of Besanko J of the Federal Court published earlier this year, provides insight into the vexed question of joint inventorship – just what does it mean to be a joint inventor of an invention that is the subject of a patent? The respondent, Bacchus Distillery, was a small …
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Follow the yellow bit road?: JP Morgan pursues bitcoin-like patent
Digital currencies are a hot topic these days, with their anonymity, freedom from control by centralised banks, and avoidance of merchant transaction fees appealing to various groups around the world. The best-known example of a digital currency is bitcoin, which as recently as last month was trading at over US$1000 per bitcoin (but has since fallen to a far more …
Read MoreA Textbook Copyright Dispute – SCOTUS Rules Against Publishers
The Supreme Court of the United States of America decided 6 to 3 this week that a person who owns copyright in a book subsisting under US law cannot restrict the importation and resale of legally produced foreign copies, in the landmark decision Kirtsaeng v John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 568 U.S. ___ (2013) on the US doctrine of “first …
Read MoreA Clause For Concern? Arbitration clauses and third-party IP claims
The Supreme Court of British Columbia recently considered a dispute over a software agreement where a licensor refused to indemnify a licensee for the licensee’s settlement of an intellectual property claim brought against the licensee by a third party. The licensor pointed to the licensee’s failure to give prompt notice of the third party claim and failure to take the …
Read MoreSecret Miners’ Business – Gold and Copper Resources Pty Ltd v Newcrest Operations Ltd
A recent case of the NSW Supreme Court, Gold and Copper Resources Pty Ltd v Newcrest Operations Ltd [2013] NSWSC 281, highlights the importance of being able to prove your own loss or the other party’s profit as a result of a breach of confidence, and how confidentiality agreements interact with the equitable duty of confidence and disclosure to Government …
Read MoreCan you actually own the Sword of Azeroth?
The trade in virtual goods is growing fast, with the US virtual goods market being estimated at US$3 billion this year, and the Asian market at over US$10 million. However, there are questions about whether or not virtual goods can be construed as “property” at law. For further detail, see here, a tremendous slide pack by Jas Purewal of Gamer/Law, presented …
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