Edwards and Co Legal

Data, Privacy + IP

Adidas’ 70 year Quest to own Stripes + the Importance of Trade Mark Protection

In January this year, trade mark lawyers representing American fashion brand Thom Browne told the Manhattan Southern District Court that Adidas...

Read

intellectual property, ip, ownership, trademark, trademarks

All Insights + Resources

The PwC Cautionary Tale – Reminders for Handling Sensitive Commercial Information

The recent unauthorised disclosure of inside government information by PwC partners shocked and infuriated the federal Government, and has been...

Read

business, commercial law, Corporations, Privacy

Data, Privacy + IP

Privacy Around the World – 2023 Pulse Check

Individual privacy is valued as a right in many countries around the world, and protection of privacy has become a vital concern for regulators. Yet...

Read

business law, commercial law, Data, Data Breach, intellectual property, Personal Data, Personal Information, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

The Rise of the AI Deities: As Thorny Issues Cluster – Part 2

Led by OpenAI poster child, ChatGPT, in a matter of months, hundreds of millions of individuals across the globe have been activated to the...

Read

Corporate + Commercial

SAFE Notes: Are these Once Strange Things Suitable For Your Next Investment?

Once regarded as one of the investment community’s ‘stranger things’, SAFE Notes occupy the twilight zone between the usual binary alternatives...

Read

business, business law, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, Corporations, corporations act

All Insights + Resources

The Rise of the AI Deities: As Thorny Issues Cluster – Part 1

...

Read

Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, copyright act, Data, Data Breach, Digital Innovation, Disruptive, intellectual property, Metaverse, Personal Data, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

ChatGPT – Challenges to Ownership and Protection of IP in the Era of the AI Deities

As 2022 drew to a close, OpenAI released a public iteration of its web-based, machine-learning chatbot program, ChatGPT, and quickly garnered 100...

Read

Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, copyright act, Digital Innovation, intellectual property, ip, Metaverse, ownership

All Insights + Resources

AI Art Selfies: Some IP and Privacy concerns with the latest social trend

A recent ripple spreading rapidly through social media is an AI art app that creates stylised avatars based on selfies. The Lensa AI app was...

Read

Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, copyright act, Data, Digital, Digital Innovation, intellectual property, Media, ownership, social media

All Insights + Resources

Directors IDs: Just how personal is this 15-digit identifier?

Nearly 2.7 million Australian Directors have submitted their personal information to the Australian Business Registry Service to apply for a Director...

Read

business, business law, corporate law, Corporations, Data, Data Breach, Directors Duties, Hacking, Personal Data, Personal Information, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

Is SaaS / cloud-based software subject to export compliance rules in Australia?

Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies have disrupted and transformed the way many businesses deliver software enabled products and services to...

Read

business, commercial law, Data, Digital Innovation, Disruptive, intellectual property

All Insights + Resources

Huge Fines for Businesses with Unfair Terms

With effect from 9 November 2022, new laws came into effect which amended the Australian Consumer Law to introduce very serious penalties for...

Read

business, Data, Data Breach, Hacking, Law Reforms, Personal Information, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

Time to break out your Data Breach Response Plan: After more large-scale breaches, major changes are destined for Australian law

The September 2022 Optus data breach served as a wake-up call for the Australian government and businesses alike, driving rapid reforms to the...

Read

Data, Data Breach, Digital, EU, Personal Data, Personal Information, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

Post Optus Data Breach | Is Your Company’s Data Secure? How to Avoid Serious Harm to Your Business

In September 2022, millions of Australian Optus customers had their data hacked, causing widespread concerns of identity fraud. Optus,...

Read

business, commercial law, Corporations, Data, Data Breach, Hacking, Media, optus, Personal Data, Personal Information, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | Sign of the Times – E-Signing is Here to Stay

As the growth of the Metaverse and Web 3.0 continues to influence how we live and work today, and our expectations for tomorrow, the impact of...

Read

corporate law, CorporateLaw+, Corporations, corporations act, Signatures

All Insights + Resources

METAVERSE+ | DALL-E 2: Who owns AI Art Under Australian Law?

Launched in July 2022 by US artificial intelligence research lab OpenAI, DALL-E 2 is a revolutionary text-to-image art generator which harnesses the...

Read

Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, copyright act, Digital, Digital Innovation, Disruptive, intellectual property, ip, Media, Metaverse, social media

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | Attention All Company Directors – Get Your Mandatory Director ID Number in 5 minutes

All directors of Australian companies must hold a Director Identification Number (DIN) or risk prosecution by ASIC. Below we simplify the process for...

Read

business law, commercial law, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, Corporations, Directors

All Insights + Resources

Can an A.I. Machine be an Inventor for Patent Registration?

Whether an AI machine can be recognised as an inventor for patent registration purposes raises fascinating legal and social anthropological...

Read

AI, Artificial Intelligence, business, business law, Commercialisation, Data, Digital, Digital Innovation, Media

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | Electronic Signing – How to Validly Use Cloud Based Platforms

While data and privacy concerns slowed the initial widespread adoption of e-signatures, attitudes have drastically changed towards e-signing and...

Read

business, business law, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, corporations act, Data, Digital, E-signing, Media

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | New Directors Must Now Get a Director ID Before Appointment

Prospective company directors are now legally required to apply for a Director Identification Number before they are appointed. The consequences of...

Read

business, business law, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, corporations act, Director ID, Directors Duties

All Insights + Resources

Protecting Your Secret Sauce | How to Ensure You Actually Own that Valuable Business IP

...

Read

contractor, Copyright, copyright act, Employee, intellectual property, ip, ownership, secretsauce, trademark, trademarks

All Insights + Resources

METAVERSE+ | Web 3.0 – Legal Considerations in the Spatial Era

Rapidly evolving technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence are heralding ‘Web 3.0’, a.k.a. ‘the next phase of the...

Read

All Insights + Resources

METAVERSE+ | Why Facebook is Really Changing its Name to Meta

The tech giant formerly known has Facebook has recently announced that it will change its name to Meta and sharpen its focus on the development of...

Read

Augmented Reality, Data, Digital, intellectual property, Media, Metaverse, NFTs, Personal Data, social media

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | Company Directors set to get IDs from New Government Watchdog

Australian Company directors will soon be required to verify their identity with a recently formed Government Registrar by applying for a...

Read

business, business law, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, corporations act, Directors Duties

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | More Evidence of the End For Wet Ink? Victoria Becomes First State to Make Pandemic Reforms Permanent

Victoria has solidified its contemporary stance on electronic signatures and made its pandemic reforms permanent. In this article, we provide an...

Read

business, business law, Contracts, coronavirus, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, Signatures

All Insights + Resources

METAVERSE+ | Gold-backed gorillas and tall giraffes – the trend towards collectible NFT communities

As the global market for NFTs continues to gain momentum, new crypto-collectible communities have entered the scene. In this article we discuss the...

Read

Cryptocurrency, Digital, Disruptive, Media, Metaverse, NFTs

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law+ | The Return of E-Signatures: Updates to the Corporations Act under the 2021 COVID-19 lockdowns

Highly anticipated corporate law reforms have finally been implemented. In this article, we provide an insight into what the changes are, how they...

Read

business, business law, Contracts, coronavirus, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, Corporations, corporations act, covid19, Law Reforms

All Insights + Resources

METAVERSE+ | The Spiky Rise of NFTs: Some Intriguing Legal Issues and Challenges

The recent spike in the popularity of NFTs has been tagged by some as the future of the digital art market, and has the markings of the next big...

Read

Cryptocurrency, Digital, Media, Metaverse, NFTs

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ | Temporary Pandemic Relief Gives Way To Australia’s Most Significant Insolvency Reforms in 30 Years

Despite the expiry of the COVID-19 relief measures, small businesses continue to struggle with the economic challenges created by the pandemic....

Read

business law, corporate law, CorporateLaw+, insolvency law, law

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ | Corporate Reform in the Age of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption in social and business life on a worldwide basis. Amongst what many regard as positive...

Read

coronavirus, corporate law, corporations act, covid19, Law Reforms

All Insights + Resources

Should TikTok be Banned in Australia? Federal Parliamentary Inquiry launches over Chinese Data Security Fears

At the same time as the popularity of mobile app TikTok rises exponentially, countries around the world have raised data and security concerns....

Read

Data, Media, Privacy, social media

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ | Protecting your Business from Cyber Attacks in a COVID-19 World

On 19 June 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that all levels of Australian government were targeted by ‘sophisticated state-based...

Read

business, business law, coronavirus, covid19

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ | Regulating the Modernisation of Corporate Governance in a Socially Distant World

The social distancing measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted much of our way of life in the last few months. In the...

Read

business law, corporate law, covid19, Law Reforms

All Insights + Resources

Watch your wall: Businesses liable for defamatory Facebook comments – NSW Court of Appeal confirms

On 1 June 2020, the NSW Court of Appeal controversially upheld the Supreme Court’s decision that media companies with Facebook pages could be...

Read

business, business law, social media

All Insights + Resources

The Rise and Rise of IP – How to Protect and Leverage Intangible Assets

Intellectual Property (‘IP’) is the most important asset class for modern businesses today, accounting for almost 90% of a...

Read

business law, intellectual property

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ The COVIDSafe App & your Privacy: Is it safe to download?

As that famous virus continues to dominate world affairs, governments and tech companies worldwide are turning to mobile technology to help track...

Read

coronavirus, covid19, Privacy

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ Emergency Guide for Australian Businesses (15 May 2020 Update)

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic causes health and social impacts on a previously almost unfathomable scale, for businesses too it is a...

Read

business, coronavirus, covid19, Digital

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ Update on National Cabinet’s Landscape-Shifting Commercial Leasing Code

On 7 April 2020 National Cabinet announced a mandatory code (‘Code’) for commercial leases of small and medium sized Australian business...

Read

business law, coronavirus, corporate law, covid19

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ What Government Grants can SMEs piggy-bank?

In the last few months, COVID-19 has disrupted tens of thousands of businesses across the country, from large listed conglomerates to sole traders...

Read

business, business law, coronavirus, covid19

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ Emergency Guide for Australian Businesses (17 April 2020 Update)

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic causes health and social impacts on a previously almost unfathomable scale, for businesses too it is a...

Read

business, coronavirus, covid19, Digital

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ Newsflash! – National Cabinet unveils ground-breaking Commercial Leasing Code for SMEs

Under growing pressure to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, on 7 April 2020 National Cabinet announced a mandatory code for commercial lease tenancies...

Read

business law, coronavirus, corporate law, covid19

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ Fed Govt’s $130B ‘JobKeeper’ Program

On 30 March 2020, the Government announced $130 Billion in the budget with the goal of keeping workers in jobs over the next six months. This article...

Read

coronavirus, covid19

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ ‘Stay at Home’ laws set to profoundly impact commercial offices

New laws mean that people in New South Wales must not leave their homes without ‘reasonable excuse’. A reasonable excuse is not...

Read

business, business law, coronavirus, covid19

All Insights + Resources

COVID-19+ Emergency Guide for Australian Businesses

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic causes health and social impacts on a previously almost unfathomable scale, for businesses too it is a...

Read

business, business law, coronavirus, corporate law, covid19

All Insights + Resources

New Laws make Directors Personally Liable for GST Debts

The Senate has recently passed an act which confers personal liability on directors for their company’s unpaid GST...

Read

corporate law

All Insights + Resources

Neobanks: Can They Challenge the Big 4?

‘Neobanks’, also known as ‘digital banks’ and ‘challenger banks’, are terms which synonymously refer to the next...

Read

banking, Digital, Disruptive

All Insights + Resources

New Whistleblower Policy: 10 Key Points To Note!

All public companies have until 1 January 2020 to comply with the new whistleblower policy requirements. This requirement carries a $126,000 (body...

Read

business law, corporate law, corporations act

All Insights + Resources

Disruptive Skies: 10 Things You Need to Know about Australian Drone Law

With drones’ increasing popularity, concerns have been raised regarding their potential to invade privacy and cause safety risks. Whilst...

Read

Digital, drones

All Insights + Resources

Corporate Law Update: High Court Sounds a Warning to Directors Providing Financial Assistance to Shareholders

Following a recent High Court case, companies should be aware of adopting too narrow an interpretation of the “financial assistance” provisions...

Read

corporate law, corporations act

All Insights + Resources

Handle with care: owner drivers get new protections

Amendments to the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act create new protections for gig economy workers transporting...

Read

business law, Gig Economy, law reform

All Insights + Resources

The Power of the Platform: ACCC Takes Aim at Facebook & Google

In June 2019, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (‘ACCC’) released its’ final report from the Digital Platforms Inquiry...

Read

ACCC, business, Facebook, Google, social media

All Insights + Resources

IP Rights Holders beware! Changes to Competition Laws

The repeal of the so-called “IP exemption” from the Competition and Consumer Act could significantly impact commercial dealings in IP rights....

Read

competition, intellectual property

All Insights + Resources

Blocking the exits: Directors’ rights to decline share transfers

Under Australian law, directors of companies typically have unilateral powers to reject transfers of shares by shareholders. However, below we...

Read

corporate law, Directors Duties

All Insights + Resources

Get your records straight! ASIC record-keeping obligations and penalties

Officers have legal obligations under Australian law to keep information on ASIC registers up to...

Read

asic, corporate law, Corporations, corporations act

All Insights + Resources

Your freelancer has arrived: Australian Uber drivers held not employees

In much-publicised proceedings, the Fair Work Ombudsman has found that Uber drivers are independent...

Read

corporate law, Disruptive, Gig Economy, social media

All Insights + Resources

Watch your wall: Businesses liable for defamatory Facebook comments

A decision in the Supreme Court of New South Wales has paved the way for businesses to be held responsible for publishing defamatory comments by...

Read

business, business law, defamation, social media

Knight in chain mail about to strike with sword terminating

All Insights + Resources

Contractual lock-in? Terminating contracts without a clause

Contracts form the backbone of almost all commercial arrangements, binding parties to perform their specified duties. But when does a breach or...

Read

Contracts, Repudiation, Termination

All Insights + Resources

Insolvent trading and the position of Australian directors

Under Australian law, board directors have a duty to prevent insolvent trading by corporations. Though certain exceptions may apply, failure to do so...

Read

Directors Duties, Insolvent Trading