Cautionary Tales: Turning IP Mishaps into IP Lessons | FB Rice

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Battle tested IP attorneys at FB Rice bring you Cautionary Tales, stories “based on real events” where trademarks melted down, patents tripped over themselves, and designs went spectacularly off the rails.

These are the mishap moments: missed deadlines, mystery inventors, disclosures that nearly derailed everything.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Each tale ends with a twist, a possible fix, and a practical legal lesson, helping you sidestep the IP panic, the paperwork, and the pain. Mistakes were made. Insights were gained.

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Latest in the series

Cautionary Tale: Unexpected inventor of a dependent claim

A cautionary tale where an inventor is unexpectedly discovered causing ownership grief for the applicant of an Australian patent application. The tale shows how the smart use of divisional applications can help turn a cautionary tale into a strategic win.

Cautionary Tale: Who’s who in the zoo? Getting legal entities right

This cautionary tale - drawn from real-world experiences - shows how a lack of clarity around “who’s who in the zoo” can unravel even the most carefully laid IP strategies.

Design first, hype later: An early disclosure near miss

If there’s one golden rule in design protection, it’s simple: file before you disclose. Get your registration in place before you show the world your product. Still, anyone who works with innovative businesses knows, the real world doesn’t always follow the rulebook.

Cautionary Tale: Never break the chain

Patent rights can be realised based upon brilliant inventions but their value can be undone without an unbroken chain of title. This story follows a client who set up an IP holding company to house a new technology portfolio but overlooked how inventor rights were actually transferred. The result: risks around entitlement and priority that could have jeopardised valuable international protection.

Hearing aids: Practical lessons from a patent appeal hearing

This is the cautionary tale of a divisional application that may not have been, due to the quirks of patent appeal hearings— and the practical lessons it offers for anyone navigating this appeal process.

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