Ideas - Planning for 2008?

Our website library now has a page of links to 50:

• Business ideas for growth
• Business ideas for sale and survival
• Business ideas in internet trends
• Intellectual property law concepts for commercialisation
• Ways to use lawyers more productively

Articles and Lightbulb Blog Posts

Letter of Demand Species  Sending a letter of demand (cease and desist letter) is like laying the foundation of a very tall building. Everything that follows in that dispute is built upon that foundation. Here's some of the poorer species of letters of demand we've seen over the years that have caused headaches for their senders.

Reducing obstacles for collaboration formation  Going solo in business is easier in some ways than doing business in a collaboration. However, doing business in collaboration is generally easier, and a whole lot more profitable, than battling solo. Our focus here is on practical advice for collaboration formation.

When is a distribution agreement not a franchise?  There are dire consequences if a licence or distribution agreement unintentionally crosses the line to become a franchise in the eyes of the law. The takeaway from a recent Federal Court case is obtain advice to stay on the right side of the line.

IP strategy for R&D: people first  People differ in their interests, personality and skills. This leads them to selecting different educational and career paths. These facts should prompt all managers to customise the way they manage individuals in the workplace.

Technology diffusion and the Hollywood business model  Giorgio Armani and his pals, Cate and Russell have each used the Hollywood business model, a combination of talent, fame, distribution networks and familiar messages. So too have many technologies and an obscure musical instrument...

Architect gave an implied copyright licence  Sometimes the fact that lawyers think in words can get in the way of understanding a story. This article tells its story in words, pictures and numbers and ends with 5 practical tips on avoiding copyright problems.

10 conversations about business models  Listed in this post are 10 topics for telephone conversations we would happily have free-of-charge. Happily, readers have taken up this offer. We're proposing an open conversation to exchange thoughts, play cards and see where that might lead.

Straight talk on intellectual property litigation  American business and IP lawyers tend to be straight talkers. Admiring straight talk as we do, it was a delight this week to see street protesting lawyers in Lahore (could be a good title for another song by The Clash).

Record penalties for Trade Practices Act non-compliance  Once more the dire consequences of breach of Part IV of the Trade Practices Act 1974 have been made clear. This time Australian billionaire, Richard Pratt, his company and two of his senior executives have suffered record penalties, injunctive orders and compliance orders imposed by the Federal Court of Australia.

Australia's national innovation policy, ho hum  If you fell into a coma in 1997 and came out in 2007 you'd find little improvement in the sleepy state of innovation policy in Australia. That said there have been some positive changes and there's room for more players.

OpenSocial: market dynamics defined  OpenSocial promises to further increase the rate at which website surfers shift from static sites to social networking. It illustrates market dynamics.

Copyright in flux: The Empire Strikes Back?  In Paris, contemporary artists at the Louvre copy paintings by dead artists. Long dead artists have no copyright. As for Google, while it's probably got a solid copyright licence with map owners it has exposure for use of unlicensed content.

 Guest Articles on Migration Law

The skills shortage has increased demand for our employment law services and documents. Sometimes workers are needed from abroad. Migration expert Paul Hense is regularly adding articles for our website library.

No substitute for experience and skill in immigration law  Paul relays three examples where he has had to intervene to see that his clients receive a fair (and legal) go from the Department of Immigration.

Skilled migration to Australia made easier  The skills shortage in Australia is continuing to produce a range of responses, including by governments, private enterprise, and the education sector. Paul overviews the key changes.