Privacy law update - data breaches must now be notified

It is time to review your cyber security posture

In brief

Australia’s federal privacy laws are set for their most significant amendment since the introduction of the Australian Privacy Principles in 2012.  

On Monday, Parliament passed the Privacy Amendments (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 (the Bill), which will make it mandatory for entities regulated by the Privacy Act to notify of any data breach that is likely to result in serious harm.

These amendments have been a long time coming.  They were originally recommended as part of the Australian Law Reform Committee’s 2008 report on Australia’s privacy laws, and then were proposed as part of the legislative package of changes in 2015 that required telecommunications providers to store metadata.

Goodbye ATMOSS, hello ‘Australian Trade Mark Search’

On Saturday 11 February 2017, trade mark professionals will bid farewell to ATMOSS (the current trade mark searching system), as IP Australia launches the new ‘Australian Trade Mark Search’.  After the launch, users will be automatically redirected from ATMOSS to the Australian Trade Mark Search.  Key features include new text searches, wildcards and image searching. The new system is more user friendly, will improve efficiencies in searching, and will assist practitioners more broadly with trade mark filing strategy and advice.  

If you have any queries relating to the new system or need advice regarding trade marks, please contact:

Belinda Breakspear

It’s a case of better the Kylie you know as trade mark battle ends

Australian pop-star Kylie Minogue’s long running battle with reality tv-star Kylie Jenner, and Jenner’s attempt to trade mark the name ‘Kylie’ appears to have ended. 

Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian clan, submitted a U.S. trade mark application in 2015 to protect her first name in relation to advertising and endorsement services. 

Minogue’s representative business, KBD, retaliated by filing a notice of opposition to the application on the basis that Minogue is an “internationally renowned performing artist, humanitarian, and breast cancer activist known worldwide simply as ‘Kylie’” while Jenner is “a secondary reality television personality”.  The notice went on to argue that the Kylie trade mark would likely cause confusion with, and tarnish, Minogue’s long list of existing trade mark registrations including Kylie Minogue Darling, Kylie Minogue and her website kylie.com.