Peter Gillies

Feed-in tariffs in Australia : fiscal incentives and regulatory regimes - current developments and policies for the future

Australia’s governments have and continue to implement measures to lower green house gas emissions. The two principal federal policies are a Renewable Energy Target which aims to source 20% of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which will centre on an emissions trading system operating from mid-2011. This paper examines the issue of whether feed-in tariff schemes can make a significant contribution to the abatement of greenhouse gases in Australia. The present and planned Australian feed-in tariff schemes are designed to encourage (by resort to a premium tariff) the installation of renewable generation technology in the premises of small power consumers such as households. This power would substitute for power that would otherwise be sourced from the grid, which power is (predominantly) sourced from non-renewable energy sources. Power surplus to the user’s needs could be exported to the grid. By way of background, the broader strategies for decarbonising Australia’s electricity industry, and the progress made, will be examined.

Unifying competing dispute resolution processes into a one-stop arbitration

Abstract Whether a court should stay or alternatively refuse to stay proceedings in the court to avoid or minimise a multiplicity of proceedings – arbitral and curial – that focus on essentially the same or a related cluster of disputes, arises from time to time in domestic and international commercial arbitration situations. The parties generally want their dispute to be consolidated in the one adjudication. As a party to an arbitration agreement, this one-stop adjudication will be achieved by way of arbitration. This paper examines the responses of the courts and legislatures to this and related issues in common law jurisdictions.

Colour in Branding: Asserting a Monopoly in a Colour for Marketing Purposes - The Cadbury-Darrell Lea Litigation

This paper reviews the litigation between Cadbury and Darrell Lea concerning the use of the colour purple in marketing chocolate products in Australia. At the time of the conduct in question, Cadbury had not registered uses of the colour purple as trade marks, and indeed Cadbury has yet to succeed in registering purple, given Darrell Leas continuing opposition. The litigation concerned unsuccessful actions in passing off and pursuant to ss52 and 53(c) and (d) of the Trade Practices Act, in which Cadbury in substance sought to maintain a monopoly over a shade of the colour purple in retailing chocolate. The general principles governing the use of and legal protection of colour in marketing are commented upon, as are the utility and limitations of expert evidence in this class of case.