Australia: Trademark

A service provider who has not assigned their intellectual property still owns it, regardless of what the invoice says. Under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), the creator owns copyright by default, and ownership moves only by written assignment. Paying a designer or developer does not transfer ownership on its own. That default gives service providers real leverage where a client refuses to pay. Retention and suspension clauses turn the default into a contractual right to withhold deliverables.

A Federal Court decision examines the ownership of intellectual property rights in the "Blue Carbon Lab" brand, exploring whether goodwill and trademark ownership belonged to Deakin University or to Professor Peter Macreadie who conceived the lab's name and logo. The case addresses critical questions about institutional ownership of research brands, the indivisibility of goodwill, and the standards for assessing bad faith in trademark applications when employees leave academic institutions.

Unregistered trade marks & their associated goodwill are treated as one in the same.