Intellectual Property Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Stephens Lawyers & Consultant’s intellectual property litigation and dispute resolution practice has extensive expertise in dealing with infringements or unauthorised use of intellectual property and responding to cease and desist letters and unjustified threats.

Intellectual property litigation demands a high level of legal and technical expertise.

Working with leading technical experts, Stephens Lawyers conducts intellectual property litigation in the areas of copyright, trade mark, design, plant breeder’s rights and patent infringement, the unauthorised use of confidential information/trade secrets and the ownership of intellectual property.

Stephens Lawyers has been involved in leading cases in the intellectual property field. The firm represented Victoria University of Technology in Supreme Court proceedings involving the ownership of inventions, patent applications and subsequent software development. In the High Court case Autodesk v. Dyason, Stephens Lawyers represented Autodesk, the successful appellants. This was the first case in Australia where the High Court had to consider whether amendments to the Copyright Act afforded protection to computer programs as literary works. Stephens Lawyers also represented Data Access Corporation in the High Court case of Data Access Corporation v. Powerflex in which the High Court had to consider whether copyright subsisted in computer programming languages and databases.

Stephens Lawyers has successfully represented Jesse James and West Coast Choppers in a trade mark ownership and copyright dispute in the Federal Court of Australia. The firm has also assisted Jesse James and West Coast Choppers in obtaining trade mark registration in Australia, to protect their intellectual property assets.

List of Stephens Lawyers’ cases

Intellectual Property Legal Updates and Publications

Registering Trade Marks in Australia – What are the commercial benefits and process? – October 2023

AI created Inventions or Works – Are they protected by Australian IP Laws? – May 2022

Protecting Confidential Information and Personal Data during COVID 19 – April 2020

AI Generated Works and Copyright Protection – August 2019

Compensation for Patent Infringement in Australia – July 2017

Copyright in Photographs – Perils of Online Copying – October 2014

Benefits of Registering a Trade Mark in Australia – October 2013

Trade Marks Update: Trade Mark Protection – Online Businesses – October 2013

Trade Marks Update: Removing a Competitor’s Mark from the Register for Non-Use – May 2011

Government Grants Continue to Support SME Innovation – September 2010

Directors’ Liability for Intellectual Property Infringement – August 2010

New Government Grants Support Innovators of Intellectual Property – February 2010

Full Federal Court Confirms that Researchers Own their Inventions – October 2009

Innovation Patents Provide Protections Against Imitators – August 2009

Protecting your Trademark from Unauthorised Use on Facebook URLs – June 2009

Recent Developments in Patent Law – September 2008