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Your trade mark and IP issues solved

Trade marks

Clearance searches, registrations, oppositions, disputes

IP Contracts

Licences, assignments, royalties, royalty withholding advice, terms & conditions

Confidential information and trade secrets

Confidentiality Agreements, NDAs, Non-Compete Agreements

Copyright

Publishing agreements, assignments, licenses, moral rights consents,

IP Disputes

Trade mark infringement, breach of copyright, IP contract disputes, misuse of confidential information

The Clearscope difference

We are a leading boutique commercial law firm based in Melbourne. Our lawyers are commercial law specialists, with many years of experience both in private practice and as in-house counsel for local corporate groups and international businesses.

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Trusted by these businesses Australia-wide

When you work with us, you’re in good company

What our clients are saying

ampetus-testimonial
My company saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and untold misery through detailed, thorough and sharp examination of a contract that we ultimately signed (with suggested amendments from Clearscope Legal) with one of our suppliers.
Abraham Jacks
Director, Ampetus Energy
patterson-testimonial
Clearscope Legal has consistently achieved results and minimised cost to our business – in areas including dispute resolution, business law, employment and recoveries. Their broad experience, and clear, direct and decisive approach has been invaluable
Stuart Patterson
Director, Pattersons Build Group
csi
Car Stackers International highly recommends Clearscope Legal. We have been extremely satisfied with their industry focus, high levels of service and professionalism.
Jamie Polkinghorne
Director, Car Stackers International
lotus-testimonial
We recently engaged Clearscope to undertake a review of our standard terms and conditions of sale. With thousands of customers this is important to our business and we found Raphael to be very responsive and knowledgeable. He also recently kept us up to date with emerging developments in this space which was most appreciated.
Graeme Williamson
Managing Director, Lotus Commercial
digital-autopiot-testimonial
Raphael Brown is a smart, efficient, knowledgeable and extremely commercially astute lawyer. I would highly recommend him to any individual or business who cares about protecting their interests and making legally wise decisions.
Joel Gerschman
Director, Digital Autopilot
Skand-testimonial
As a technology platform vendor, we need to ensure that our contracts are watertight and that our intellectual property is fully protected. We highly recommend Clearscope Legal, and always know that we can count on them for their impeccable attention to detail, and their commercial and down to earth approach.
Zak Levick
Chief Operations Officer, Skand

Your trade mark and IP questions answered

Trade marks

It is your brand – usually a word or logo uniquely identified with your business. Registering your trade mark on the official IP Australia register is ideal. But contrary to popular belief, a trade mark does not need to be registered for it to be protected by law.

As many a great lawyer has been known to say – it depends! You need to know which searches to do to find out if someone else is already using the same work or logo, or something similar. Clearscope Legal can help with the initial detective work. We know where to search, and what to look for. If you get it wrong at the early stages, you could wind up answering an infringement claim, and end up with a very costly re-brand down the track.

You may have rights under trademark infringement and “passing off”. A claim under the Australian Consumer Law could also be possible. Sometimes a legal letter of demand will do the trick. If not, a more comprehensive legal strategy might be needed including legal proceedings in the Federal Court, if there is enough at stake.

Copyright

When someone creates something original, copyright law allows the creator to control how that copyright material is used. Examples of copyright material include books, songs, sound recordings, artworks and even software code.

The best way is to enter into a copyright contract. You could either sell your copyright outright (usually called a transfer or assignment of copyright), or you could give permission to use the copyright for a limited time, and in certain territories or markets (under a copyright licence).

A common first step is to send a legal letter. If the unauthorised use continues, you could consider legal proceedings. As with breaches of other intellectual property, misuse of your copyright material could give you a right to compensation for your loss, and you could even claim the profits made by the person who used your material without permission.

Trade secrets

Sometimes a business can own valuable know-how or sensitive information, but which cannot be protected under trade mark law, patent, copyright or other intellectual property rights. A business could still protect this know-how or information by keeping it secret. They key is to have a rock-solid confidentiality agreement (sometimes called an “NDA” on “non-disclosure agreement”). Then always make sure that anyone that receives the secret information first signs the confidentiality agreement. Failing to do this could mean that the confidentiality is lost, and the information is no longer protected.