Just like a ship trying to navigate stormy waters, the biotechnology environment can be dangerous! Biotechs looking to commercialise their ideas need to be able to respond to a rapidly changing environment that is influenced by globalisation, increased market competition, financial pressures and the advancement of new technologies. What do you need to do to… Read more

When making deals the commercial focus is directed to the nature of the transaction and how it works mechanically. Frankly speaking, ‘peripheral’ terms such as dispute resolution clauses are an afterthought. More often than not a standard clause for dispute resolution is used without much consideration. Unfortunately, this can mean that if a dispute arises,… Read more

Various studies over the years have identified that businesses enter into joint ventures for three key reasons; to pool resources, establish new markets or as an alternative to a more formal merger or acquisition. Unfortunately, the data from these studies suggests that almost half of the joint ventures that are entered into fail to add… Read more

  I commonly hear founders and managers of new fast growing businesses tell me that they don’t know what they don’t know. So I thought about what I’d want to know if I was in their shoes. Here are the top 5: 1. Your business structure can kill your business Not all business structures are… Read more

If you are lucky enough to work in a company that has its own in-house lawyer you already know that their legal and commercial advice can help you make better business decisions.  You may also know of the concept of legal professional privilege, which protects the disclosure of confidential communications between a lawyer (whether or… Read more

You’ve probably seen that Elon Musk (founder of Tesla) and Mike Cannon-Brookes (the billionaire founder of Atlassian) were bantering over Twitter last week in relation to fixing South Australia’s power problem through Tesla installing a 100MW battery farm. To see such an arrangement negotiated in a public forum, and so quickly, is currently very rare… Read more

In his recent Twitter exchange with Mike Cannon-Brookes and telephone conversations with SA Premier Jay Weatherill and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Elon Musk has very publicly thrown Tesla’s hat into the ring as a supplier of a grid scale battery farm to help SA through its energy security issues.  Tesla sell batteries to other people,… Read more

Some say what you don’t know can’t hurt you, but in the case of court proceedings, ignorance is not bliss. You may not know that a creditor can wind up, or a person can obtain judgment against, a company without the company knowing or responding. Unfortunately this can occur when a company doesn’t ensure that… Read more

The Indigenous Procurement Policy (‘IPP’), which commenced on 1 July 2015, aims to increase Indigenous participation in the economy by stimulating Indigenous business development and entrepreneurship. Under the IPP, Indigenous businesses (any business which is 50 percent or more Indigenous owned) will have the opportunity to participate in contracts awarded by the Federal Government. From… Read more

Businesses who use agents to sell their products or services are now at risk of prosecution for breaching competition law.  A recent High Court decision has confirmed that an agreement on price restrictions between agents and principals will breach Australia’s restrictive trade practices laws. In vertical distribution arrangements, a business engages an agent to sell… Read more