It has become increasingly common for corporate groups to hold their trade marks and other intellectual property within a dedicated, non-trading entity.

While this may assist with asset protection, it can lead to concerns about whether use of the trade mark by another member of the group is "authorised". The recent Full Federal Court decision of Trident Seafoods Corp v Trident Foods Pty Ltd examined this issue in the context of a trade mark that was used by the parent but owned by a subsidiary.

In February 2019 the final report of The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry ('the Royal Commission') was delivered.

This highly publicised report incorporated a selection of wide-reaching recommendations, including recommendation 4.7, which recommended that the application of the unfair contract terms regime ('UCT') be extended to include insurance contracts. The government has accepted the recommendations, and has in turn released draft legislation, as well as an explanatory memorandum.

Corporate & Commercial Partner Tal Williams recently caught up with Tracy Angwin, CEO of the Australian Payroll Association, to discuss a range of issues surrounding payroll and data privacy.

Holman Webb is pleased to announce that our Insurance Team has won the prestigious Insurance Team of the Year award at the Australian Law Awards 2019!

Now that we are well into August, it is crucial for franchisors to be aware that there are just three months remaining before the deadline for franchise disclosure documents to be finalised (31 October 2019).  Franchisors should similarly note that there are now only 2 months left to get your vote organised and finalised in relation to the auditing of your marketing fund, if you have one.

If you are an Australian franchisor with operations based on the usual financial year (ending 30 June), now is the ideal time for you to look at organising a timeline for these necessary tasks.

With this in mind, Holman Webb has compiled a 10-step guide to compliance, which we encourage all franchisors to follow.

It is often thought that the law is slow, and unable to keep up with technological change - although it is important to note that this is not always the case.

More often than not, the law is sufficiently clear, but is effectively sitting in wait for someone to launch a challenge over a new piece of technology, in order for it to actually be applied.

Holman Webb Partner, Tal Williams speaks with Lawyers Weekly in this podcast about GDPR one year on, and what Australian firms can learn from the issues experienced by overseas businesses.

Holman Webb is delighted to announce that following his 2016 win, team leader within the firm's Insurance group, John Van de Poll, has once again won Insurance Partner of the Year!

Domain Names

Holman Webb Partner, Danny Adno, has advised on the sale of a market leading supplier and distributor of innovative value-added ingredients and all products, being the business conducted by Ingredients Resources Pty Limited, to Connell Bros., an Australian entity within the Wilbur-Ellis group of companies.