Not the first time Apple Inc has been featured in this blog, and by the looks of things, certainly not the last.

Apple Inc has taken on Australian retail giant Woolworths in a battle of the heavy weights. As you will have no doubt seen, Woolworths introduced their new apple shaped “W” logo to coincide with their gradual phasing out of the Safeway brand.

In a follow-up to our earlier blog about Mary-Ann Martinek’s trade mark application for SAM THE KOALA and image (see here) - we can now report that the Victorian State Government has filed an opposition to those applications with IP Australia, the government body governing trade mark applications.

The Government now has 3 months in which to file evidence in support of its opposition. Once filed, Ms Martinek will have 3 months to file her own evidence. However these deadlines can be extended so we will keep you posted on any developments as they arise.

- Jack Dolphin

Read about Actuate IP’s trade mark dispute services.

As the old saying goes - “any publicity is good publicity”. Well in the case of American pop starlet Katy Perry this may not be true. Her lawyers opposed a trade mark application by Australian fashion designer Katie Perry for her name KATIE PERRY in relation to clothing.

Many of you may have seen the now iconic image of Sam the Koala being fed water by CFA Volunteer David Tree after the Black Saturday bushfires. The iconic image can be purchased here from the Herald Sun website with all proceeds going to the CFA. Now someone has applied to register as a trade mark the words “SAM THE KOALA” for numerous goods including chocolates, colouring books, DVD’s, toys and soft toys and for tourism, sightseeing and educational services.

You may recall our blog entry last year on cosmetics giant L’Oreal and their campaign against counterfeit products sold on eBay. Well it looks like the French courts have dealt another blow to that campaign following a decision earlier this month dismissing L’Oreal’s trade mark infringement action against the online auctioneer.

Arnott’s recently threatened legal action against the well known doughnut chain, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. over its use of the name Iced Dough-Vo. One of the claims alleged by Arnotts’ was that this use of the name was a breach of the Trade Marks Act, given the similarities of the name to its ICED VO-VO trade mark. We all know what an Iced Vo-Vo looks like. Krispy Kreme’s Iced Dough-Vo doughnut was topped in a pink fondant and sprinkled with coconut, reminiscent of the popular Arnott’s biscuit.

Federal Court Practice Note No 30: Fast Track Directions was recently issued, heralding the introduction of the “Fast Track” litigation process to all Federal Courts Australia-wide.

For all you trade mark owners out there, you may want to take note of the recent micro-blogging trend called Twitter. Twitter is an online service which allows you to communicate and broadcast near-instant messages to anyone who cares to subscribe to your online message feed about your current activities – which sounds like a modern and low-cost way to keep in touch or build a loyal fan base for that trade mark you have been promoting through more “traditional” channels. But if you were looking at getting into the “twittersphere”, you had best do so quickly, before someone else decides to register your trade mark as their user name.

The saga continues as another famous brand accuses eBay of selling counterfeit goods.