Iain Irvine
Partner
Iain is a commercial lawyer and provides specialist advice in relation to franchising, licensing, distribution and intellectual property.
Iain has assisted vendors and purchasers in relation to share and business asset sale and purchase transactions with purchase prices ranging between approximately $100,000 to $100 million.
In addition to transactional matters, Iain provides commercial advice to clients in a number of industry sectors in relation to the following:
- establishing companies, trusts and other business structures including preparing shareholder documents
- business succession and estate planning
- corporate governance including company procedures and directors duties
- commercial contracts including services agreements, manufacturing and distribution agreements, shareholders agreements, terms and conditions of supply, asset leases, sponsorship agreements and guarantees
- competition and consumer law including misleading and deceptive conduct, anti-competitive conduct, statutory warranties/guarantees and other aspects of the Australian Consumer Law, and
- personal property securities law.
Clients describe Iain as a “true leader in the franchise legal market” – Who’s Who Legal
Iain regularly advises clients on Australian and international franchising, licensing and distribution. He has assisted a number of Australian franchisors with establishment and operation of their franchise systems including advising on resolution of disputes with franchisees. He also advises clients on acquisition of competing brands.
Iain has previously worked in the USA advising a number of established US brands on licensing into foreign jurisdictions including in the EU, Asia and the Middle East. He continues to assist foreign counsel with franchising and distribution into Australia.
Iain advises clients on intellectual property rights and commercialisation as well as IT and online legal issues including privacy, social media, trademark and domain name issues, and web-related contracts.
RECOGNITION
Iain has been recognised by Who’s Who Legal in the area of Franchise Law since 2016, listed in The Best Lawyers in Australia for Commercial Law since 2020 and included in the Doyle’s Guide Leading Intellectual Property Law Rankings in South Australia since 2021.
Latest News & Insights
Unfair Contract Terms Update: Class Action Waiver And Exclusive Jurisdiction Clauses
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
In its unanimous decision late last year in Karpik v Carnival Plc & Anor [2023] HCA 39 (the Ruby Princess Class Action) the High Court provided significant guidance on the broad application of Australia’s unfair contract terms (UCT) regime under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), particularly in relation to class action waiver and exclusive jurisdiction […]
Read more85 Degrees franchisor penalised: Fair Work Ombudsman secures penalties of $1.44 million
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
For the first time a responsible franchisor entity has been penalised under section 558B of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent its franchisees from breaching the Act. On 4 June 2024 85 Degrees Coffee Australia Pty Ltd (85 Degrees) was found to have “systematic[ally] fail[ed] to ensure […]
Read moreIndependent review of the Australian franchising code released
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
On 8 February 2024 the Federal Government released the Independent Review of the Franchising Code of Conduct by Dr Michael Schaper. The Review found the Code is generally fit for purpose and recommended relatively few amendments. A principal focus of the Review is a need for improved Government education and guidance to the sector. The […]
Read moreAustralian unfair contract terms laws
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Big penalties and wider application to commence 9 November 2023 In late 2022 the Australian Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Act 2022 to expand the protection to small businesses under the Australian Consumer Law against unfair terms in standard form small business contracts. The number of contracts caught by the […]
Read moreAmendments to the Australian Franchising Code
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Two rounds of amendments to the Australian Franchising Code of Conduct come into force during April 2022. Franchisors should take note of the changes including increased penalties for breach of the Code and the new requirement for franchisors to register their details with the Commonwealth government. Franchise Disclosure Register – 1 April 2022 The Code […]
Read moreClosing In On Stronger Australian Unfair Contract Terms Laws
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Unfair terms in standard form small business contracts are void under section 23(1) of the Australian Consumer Law. Between 23 August 2021 – 20 September 2021 the Australian government invited public submissions on an Exposure Draft of a bill to strengthen these laws. Persons entering into template supply terms, service agreements, franchise agreements, distribution agreements, […]
Read moreAustralian Franchising Code of Conduct amended on 2 June 2021
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Introduction Following a lengthy Parliamentary Inquiry commencing in March 2018, amendments to the Franchising Code of Conduct were released 1 June 2021. Of the 71 earlier recommendations made by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services some 11 substantive changes have been taken up impacting on the disclosure obligations of the franchisor, the […]
Read moreProposed changes to Australian privacy laws
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Private businesses with a turnover of AU$3 million dollars or more operating in Australia must comply with the Privacy Act in relation to customer and other personal information they collect. Certain other prescribed businesses have obligations irrespective of their turnover. Obligations include having a clearly expressed and up to date privacy policy and notifying affected […]
Read moreFood services franchise scorecard – ACCC unimpressed
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has revealed the key findings of its recent compliance checks of a sample of franchisors in the food services sector. The ACCC investigated 12 separate food services industry franchisors. The report outlines the following issues. 8/12 of the franchisors made it difficult to contact former franchisees The Franchising […]
Read moreThe teeth of the tiger – penalties coming for unfair contract terms
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
When the unfair contract terms provisions of the Australian Consumer Law were extended to apply to small business contracts in late 2016, some users of these contracts made no changes or took a fairly “light touch” approach to reviewing their template agreements. This is possibly because it was unlikely a dispute over whether a clause […]
Read moreUltra Tune fined for breaching Franchising Code
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Federal Court gives further direction on required content of annual marketing fund statements The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s recent investigations into the conduct of well known motor repairer, Ultra Tune, have resulted in the Federal Court ordering Ultra Tune to pay a penalty of $2,604,000 to the ACCC. On 18 January 2019, the Federal […]
Read moreEscrow agreements – how to ensure access to your key software
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Software is a key asset of many businesses. It may be essential to the ongoing operation of the business. Accordingly, significant business interruption and loss could be suffered if a business owner lost the ability to effectively use, maintain or modify that software. This could occur if the software was developed or is maintained by […]
Read moreLending to tech businesses – registering security over IP
Posted on BY Iain Irvine
Consciousness of the importance and value of intellectual property assets continues to grow. Given this increasing focus, those lending to businesses with significant IP assets must ensure any general security they take for this lending covers IP, as well as the more “traditional” assets of the borrower. Securities over personal property including IP are governed […]
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