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Expertise

Sarah is a Special Counsel in Holding Redlich’s Corporate and Commercial group. Sarah's expertise is in intellectual property, transactional and regulatory matters, with a focus on the media, entertainment and technology industries. 

Sarah's clients include broadcasters, technology companies and start-ups, advertising agencies, production companies, consumer brands, government agencies and private equity investors.

In 2023, Sarah was recognised as a thought leader by Mondaq's Thought Leadership Awards for Australia in autumn for her article "'Greenwashing': A caution to trade mark owners".

Experience

Sarah’s recent experience includes: 

Intellectual Property

Acting for clients (both licensees and licensors), including in relation to:

  • the negotiation and drafting of licence agreements
  • intellectual property ownership and exploitation
  • domestic and international trade mark registration and advice, and trade mark portfolio management (including preparing evidence and submissions in response to examiners' reports)
  • devising reputation and brand protection strategies
  • advice on domain name law.

Media and Entertainment

Acting for advertising agencies, production companies, artists, content distributors and broadcasters, including in relation to:

  • the negotiation and drafting of commercial agreements (such as client services agreements and agreements with key talent)
  • the pre-vetting of advertising material (including for copyright, Australian Consumer Law and defamation issues)
  • providing assistance and advice in relation to Ad Standards complaints
  • providing assistance and advice in relation to trade promotions.  

Commercial Agreements

Acting for clients in relation to the negotiation and drafting of commercial contracts, including in relation to:

  • sponsorship agreements
  • services agreements
  • distribution agreements
  • referral agreements.

Regulatory

Acting for clients in relation to:

  • matters involving regulatory compliance, approvals and dealings with regulators (including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the NSW Electoral Commission)
  • both the restrictive trade practices and consumer protection provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act.

Corporate Governance

Acting for clients in respect of corporate governance matters, including in relation to:

  • shareholding structures
  • joint venture structures
  • directors’ duties.

Publications

06 December 2023 - Knowledge

Maintaining the health of your brand names and trade marks

#Trademark and Brand Management, #Intellectual Property, #Corporate & Commercial Law

Conducting regular ‘health checks’ of a business’ trade mark portfolio and strategy is critical to brand protection.

06 December 2023 - Knowledge

Changes to the Children’s Advertising Code are here

#Technology, Media & Telecommunications, #Corporate & Commercial Law

The Australian Association of National Advertisers’ new Children’s Advertising Code came into effect on 1 December 2023. Brands and advertisers need to reassess how they advertise to children.

28 June 2023 - Knowledge

Ad Standards year in review: Lessons for brands and advertisers

#Technology, Media & Telecommunications

Ad Standards recently released its yearly Review of Operations, offering brands and advertisers helpful insight into the types of advertisements most likely to attract complaints and the most topical issues for consumers and regulators.

06 June 2023 - Knowledge

'Greenwashing': A caution to trade mark owners

#Intellectual Property

The recent crack-down on “greenwashing” has seen business owners considering the potential impact on trade marks used to promote environmental credentials of goods and services.

26 April 2023 - Knowledge

Taking a gamble: Proposed reforms to the National Classification Scheme

#Technology, Media & Telecommunications

The federal government has proposed new rules, including for classifying video games with simulated gambling and paid loot boxes, aiming to protect vulnerable players and modernise the National Classification Scheme. How will this impact the industry?

19 April 2023 - Knowledge

How to assess trade mark infringement claims and deceptive similarity

#Intellectual Property

We look at the set of principles used by the High Court in Self Care IP Holdings Pty Ltd v Allergan Australia Pty Ltd [2023] HCA 8 to assess ‘use as a trade mark’ and ‘deceptive similarity’ in an infringement claim.

09 November 2022 - Knowledge

The importance of controlling third party use of your trade mark

#Intellectual Property

In this article, we provide an overview on trade mark ownership and how it is important to maintain control if a third party user is involved.

06 April 2022 - Knowledge

Planning to modify or redevelop a building site? Beware of artistic moral rights

#Property, Planning & Development

What you can and can’t do with an artwork on a building site may be determined by the artist’s moral rights.