Nicole Murdoch

Breaking: Australia’s IPH proposes to buy rival Qantm IP https://lnkd.in/gNMUKFX6 If the deal goes through, one group will manage more than 50% of patent filings in Australia and employ more than a quarter of patent attorneys in Australia and New Zealand #iph #qantmip #australia #ipstrategy

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In our latest insight, Alexander Dittel discusses the landmark case Walller v Barrett, where the County Court in Victoria formally recognised the tort of invasion of privacy under Australian common law. This decision marks a significant step in privacy protection, addressing highly offensive intrusions into personal life—an essential shift in today’s digital landscape. With privacy concerns growing in a world of deepfakes and digital media, this case establishes important protections that prioritise human dignity and autonomy. Read the full article https://lnkd.in/gq47vwHp #khqlawyers #auslaw #privacylaw #privacy

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Enforcement can be onerous for IP owners. The burden generally falls on the owner to do the enforcing. IP Australia doesn’t do it for you. As this article by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported, this can be particularly hard on small business owners: https://lnkd.in/gyx6ABTC.   What are the simple steps that you can take to make it easier for you? 1. Be ever watchful. Especially with trade mark infringement, catching the infringement early can make it easier to get the infringer to back down. Once they have invested years in building goodwill in their infringing trade mark, they’ll probably fight any demand tooth and nail. 2. Consider registering your IP right with Australian Border Force, to try to get infringing products seized at the point of import. 3. Use the IP protection policies of Amazon, eBay, etc to deny smaller infringers a marketplace. 4. If you don’t have the capacity to scale your patent or design, consider whether you are better off licensing or selling it to a major player with the clout to enforce its rights against infringers. 5. Make an example of one infringer, to give credibility to your threats against others. Even if you settle the dispute, consider omitting obligations of confidentiality on the settlement terms so that you can tell others how much it cost the infringer. 6. Consider making a pragmatic demand of the infringer that is more likely to be agreed to. For example, allowing the infringer to sell down existing stock or pay an ongoing licence, rather than requiring immediate recall and destruction of infringing stock. Unfortunately, dealing with infringers sometimes resembles a game of “whack a mole”. If you need some help stamping out those pesky moles, get in touch. #macphersonkelley #ipinfringement #patentinfringement #trademarkinfringement #iplaw

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IP, Copyright, Fair Use... these are all being considered right now in the Australian Attorney General's department and the Senate Select Committee into the Adoption of A.I. Organisations like AAVA are arguing the case that LLM training is a breach of copyright, A.I. & Big Tech firms have been arguing the opposite. These companies would rather that nobody understands what's happening in the "black box", to best suit their narrative that what's inside is not the IP or Copyright material of others. "Once trained, they say, the model does not comprise or make use of the content of the training works. As such, they contend, the copying is a fair use under U.S. law. This article challenges the above narrative by reviewing generative AI training and functionality." This paper Jacqueline Charlesworth at Yale University Law School is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this space better. #ai #copyright #ip #iplaw #llm #atificialintelligence #auspol

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Join us tomorrow as Australian Copyright Council presents IP Basics, a webinar on the IP law framework. Experts from IP Australia will guide you through copyright, design rights, trade marks, patents and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) issues. Boost your knowledge, register today: bit.ly/3yU5Aym #IPAustralia #TradeMarks #DesignRights #patents

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Law.com International looks at privacy law changes in Australia, speaking with Alec Christie who says the move to make Australian privacy law more like the EU’s is a significant step: “If you’re not really complying fully with the law as it is now, this is going to be a quantum leap. You going to absolutely struggle, both in terms of cost and effort, to get up to this new higher watermark,” he said. “This is like going from little athletics to the Olympics.” Even organisations that are “privacy mature” will have a significant amount of work, he said. Read the article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gCSFkVgX #privacy #law #data #compliance #regulatory

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The IP Australia IPAVentures team has been working on integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools into their workflow over the past year. This workshop is a great opportunity to learn from the team’s experiences, get inspired by their success stories, and gain practical knowledge on how to leverage AI solutions in your own work. Don’t miss it! Register here: https://lnkd.in/gHBXvaaf #Innovation #ArtificialIntelligence #DigitalProfession #InnovationCommunity #GovInnovationMonth

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AI GUIDELINES | In response to the growing use of generative AI in legal practice, the Supreme Court of Victoria has published guidelines for litigants and lawyers using AI tools to assist the litigation process. The guidelines highlight that, as with all legal technology, lawyers need to understand how AI tools function and be mindful of protecting client confidentiality and personal information. Lawyers should also be transparent about their use of AI and always exercise care and professional independence when reviewing its output. Natasha Stojanovich provides this summary. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gHE_YDsV #ai #artificialintelligence #law #lawyer #legaltech #litigation #disputes

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⚖ Australian privacy reform moves another step forward, writes Lexology. In the article, Alec Christie comments on the Australian government's first tranche of privacy reforms to the country's parliament. Alec says that the introduction of the tiered penalty system is the most impactful single change in the first stage of the reforms, which represents a new risk for organisations. He adds: “These enhanced powers are designed to encourage enforcement of obligations by the Privacy Commissioner and will lead to a much more active regulatory environment." Read the article here  👉 https://lnkd.in/g8HAnNma #Privacy #Data #DataProtection #PrivacyLaw

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Following the ACCC's multi-year Digital Platforms Service Inquiry, the Australian government is consulting on a new digital competition regime that will initially target app stores and ad tech platforms. This move positions Australia as a 'fast follower' in regulating digital platforms.   The regime would address perceived competition law harms created by digital platforms. It forms part of a broader government strategy that includes privacy reforms, scam prevention legislation, and government assessment of consumer law issues arising from AI. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gSTEnhR2 Authors: Haydn Flack and Preanka Gounden

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The legal saga between Aristocrat Technologies and IP Australia over computer-implemented gaming patents has taken yet another twist. A single judge has now granted Aristocrat leave to appeal Justice Burley's most recent decision. It appears that Aristocrat is hoping to take the appeal directly to the High Court. This potentially gives the nation's top court another chance to untangle the mess it created with its prior split decision on this long-running case. While the fate of a broad range of claims to computer-implemented inventions could again be at stake, the issue that might actually capture the attention of the High Court is more arcane: the proper interpretation of s 23(2)(a) of the Judiciary Act 1903! #PatentLaw #IntellectualProperty #TechIndustry #AustralianLaw #HighCourt #SoftwarePatents #PatentEligibility https://lnkd.in/gYMXE8rh

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An update to yesterday's post. The Senate Committee has now released its report into the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. While the committee majority recommends that the Senate pass the Bill, there were a number of recommendations for amendments before this occurs, including to: - change the consultation process on the Children's Online Privacy Code - make adjustments in a number of areas, addressing concerns by media and journalists, including regarding the statutory tort - include a discretionary notice process - provide clarification of the content expected in privacy policies about ADM systems - lesson the burden on the defendant to prove public interest, and some other changes to the statutory tort. The deputy chair's minority report is a particularly interesting read. He added a minority recommendation that the statutory tort be excised from the Bill before it's passed, in addition to making extensive comments about the unrealistic timeframes and delays that have been encountered. The minority report from the Greens also point out a number of the reforms that didn't make it to the Bill. There is a lot to be resolved in the remaining sitting days for the year. #privacy #privacylaw Geoff McGrath Andrew Hilton https://lnkd.in/gwdvwGWA

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The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has released new guidance on privacy and the use of commercially available AI products, to establish good practice for organizations adopting AI tools. Their top five takeaways are: 🔹 Privacy obligations apply to personal information input into AI systems, as well as the output generated by them 🔹 Businesses need to update privacy policies and notifications with clear and transparent information about their use of AI 🔹 If AI systems are used to generate of infer personal information, including images, this output constitutes personal information 🔹 Where personal information is input into an AI system, organizations must only use or disclose the information for the primary purpose for which it was collected 🔹 Organizations are advised not to enter personal information into publicly available generative AI tools. Find out more: https://ow.ly/sEa050TW6fw #AI #GenAI #DataSecurity #Privacy

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Accile AI Chronicles: Daily Industry News ACM will take no action against lawyer who hosted websites that used AI to alter legitimate news stories James Raptis, the in-house counsel for regional publisher Australian Community Media, has denied any involvement or oversight in the creation of four websites that published articles using copy from legitimate news outlets. The websites, which include League Initiative and F1 Initiative, allegedly used generative AI to disguise the copied content. Despite his implication, Australian Community Media has stated that they will not take any action against Raptis. This incident brings up questions about the potential for AI to be used for unethical purposes and the importance of overseeing all operations within a company. #AIethics #corporateoversight One of the websites mentioned in the article, AliaVera, reportedly published poorly written articles that were generated using AI. This raises concerns about the quality and accuracy of content shared on the internet, as well as the potential for misinformation to spread. It also highlights the need for stricter regulations and monitoring of online content, especially if AI is involved. #contentquality #misinformation The full article is available here: https://lnkd.in/ehaCx-t7 Accile Consulting - AI Integration Specialists Are you looking to enhance your customer experience and keep up with the latest AI advancements? Partner with Accile Consulting to tap into the full potential of AI technology and revolutionize your business. #AccileConsulting #AIIntegration #Innovation #Partnership.

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Ready or not: AI in litigation and legal practice – do you know the rules? AI involvement, in particular ‘generative AI’, in litigation and other parts of legal practice is evolving rapidly. As a result, we are seeing the introduction of guidance documents, both from courts and from leading legal industry bodies, on the appropriate use of AI in this space. In our latest article Catherine Anderson and Danijela Malesevic consider the recent guidance documents, and outline the key takeaways that practitioners, both in private practice and in-house, should be aware of in relation to the use of AI in litigation and legal practice more generally. https://lnkd.in/g2_Hr2i8

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Resharing this important reminder from Salim Sebkhi, our Chief Revenue Officer at Aona AI. The recent incident in Victoria involving #ChatGPT highlights the real risks of using AI in sensitive environments. At Aona AI, we're committed to helping organisations prevent these kinds of data security threats. Our platform provides: ✅ AI observability to track and monitor AI use ✅ Guardrails to enforce safe AI usage ✅ Automatic redaction of sensitive information. Stay protected—don’t let your data fall into the wrong hands. Reach out today to learn how Aona AI can secure your AI usage. #AIrisks #DataSecurity #GenerativeAI #Cybersecurity Bastien Cabirou Salim Sebkhi

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🔔 The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has provided both valuable statistics and guidance in its latest Notifiable Data Breaches Report released yesterday for data breaches reported in January-June 2024. 📌 The statistics 📈 reported by the OAIC include: 📊Total notifications are ⬆️ 9% (totaling 527) for the first half of 2024 compared with the second half of 2023. This is the second highest 6 monthly figure ever reported by the OAIC (the highest was in the second half of 2020). 📊63% of data breaches affected <100 people. Small data breaches matter too. They can cause serious harm to individuals just like the bigger ones we read about in the news. 📊31% of cyber incidents (data breaches resulting from attacks on computer systems) result from phishing (compromised credentials). Phishing continues to work for criminals as an effective method of attack. 📊38% of human error data breaches are the result of someone emailing personal information to the wrong recipient. 30% of all data breaches are the result of human error. Eliminating that ‘silly mistake’ of sending an email to the wrong person could reduce breaches substantially. 📌 The OAIC guidance 🧐 in this report includes: 💡Regulatory action will not necessarily be taken in every data breach, as the OAIC strives to take a “risk-based and harm-focused approach to regulation”. Action is more likely if there is substantial risk to the community, systemic harms, significant public interest, or is likely to change market practices. 💡Mitigating cyber threats requires appropriate proactive steps such as implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) (or if not available, enforce password management policies), layer security controls, have appropriate levels of access to information assets, and implement robust security monitoring for timely detection of suspicious activity. 💡Managing third-party supply chain risk requires a strong supplier risk management framework, including engaging suppliers with demonstrated robust security and PI handling, and having contractual clauses on retention and destruction of data, as well as accountabilities in the event of data breaches. 💡Mitigate the human factor of data breaches by prioritising staff training on information handling, and the latest phishing techniques by criminals. These are considered “reasonable steps” by the OAIC. 💡Paying a ransom to a cyber criminal would not be sufficient to prevent serious harm to affected individuals. When assessing whether a suspected data breach is notifiable, caution should be exercised when relying on a threat actor’s assurances. This is consistent with ASD’s ACSC advice of ‘never pay a ransom’. Max Feng Jeremy James Williams #databreach #cyberincident #ndbscheme #privacyact https://lnkd.in/gEpiJVts

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INSIGHT | Reform of Australia’s privacy law takes an important step forward A year after outlining its vision for updating Australia’s privacy legislation, the Federal Government has introduced into Parliament the bill for its first tranche of amendments to the Privacy Act. Piper Alderman Partner, Craig Subocz discusses this issue and summarises the key changes. Read the complete article here: https://lnkd.in/giYBWGSy #PrivacyLaw #PrivacyAct #PiperAlderman

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