Commonwealth Numbered Acts

TRADE PRACTICES ACT 1974 No. 51, 1974 - SECT 51

51. (1) In determining whether a contravention of a provision of this Part has
been committed, regard shall not be had-

   (a)  to any act or thing that is, or is of a kind, specifically authorized
        or approved by, or by regulations under, an Act other than an Act
        relating to patents, trade marks, designs or copyrights;

   (b)  in the case of acts or things done in a State-except as provided by
        the regulations, to any act or thing that is, or is of a kind,
        specifically authorized or approved by, or by regulations under, an
        Act passed by the Parliament of that State; or

   (c)  in the case of acts or things done in a Territory-to any act or thing
        that is, or is of a kind, specifically authorized or approved by, or
        by regulations under, an Ordinance of that Territory.

(2) In determining whether a contravention of a provision of this Part other
than section 48 has been committed, regard shall not be had-

   (a)  to any act done, or to any provision of a contract, in relation to the
        remuneration, conditions of employment, hours of work or working
        conditions of employees, or to any act done by employees or by an
        organisation of employees not being an act done in the course of the
        carrying on of a business of the employer of those employees or of a
        business of that organisation;

   (b)  to any provision of a contract, being a contract of service or a
        contract for the provision of services, under which a person, not
        being a body corporate, agrees to accept restrictions as to the work,
        whether as an employee or otherwise, in which he may engage during, or
        after the termination of, the contract;

   (c)  to any provision of a contract, or any arrangement or understanding,
        obliging a person to comply with or apply standards of dimension,
        design, quality or performance prepared or approved by the Standards
        Association of Australia or by a prescribed association or body;

   (d)  to any provision of a contract, or any arrangement or understanding,
        between partners none of whom is a body corporate in relation to the
        terms of the partnership or the conduct of the partnership business or
        in relation to competition between the partnership and a party to the
        contract, arrangement or understanding while he is, or after he ceases
        to be, a partner;

   (e)  in the case of a contract for the sale of a business or of shares in
        the capital of a body corporate carrying on a business-to any
        provision of the contract that is solely for the protection of the
        purchaser in respect of the goodwill of the business;

   (f)  to any acts done, otherwise than in the course of trade or commerce,
        in concert by ultimate users or consumers of goods or services against
        the suppliers of those goods or services; or

   (g)  to any act or thing that relates exclusively to the export of goods
        from Australia or to the supply of services outside Australia, being
        an act or thing done in pursuance of an agreement of which full and
        accurate particulars were furnished to the Commission before the act
        or thing was done.

(3) In determining whether a contravention of a provision of this Part other
than section 46 or 48 has been committed, regard shall not be had-

   (a)  in the case of a contract for or in respect of-

        (i)    a licence granted or to be granted by the proprietor, licensee
               or owner of a patent, a registered design or a copyright or by
               a person who has applied for a patent or for the registration
               of a design; or

        (ii)   an assignment of a patent, a registered design or a copyright
               or of the right to apply for a patent or for the registration
               of a design,

to any condition of the licence or assignment relating exclusively to-

        (iii)  the invention to which the patent or application for a patent
               relates or articles made by the use of that invention;

        (iv)   goods in respect of which the design is or is proposed to be
               registered and to which it is applied; or

        (v)    the work or other subject matter in which the copyright
               subsists;

   (b)  in the case of a contract authorizing the use of a certification trade
        mark-to any provision included in the contract in accordance with
        rules applicable under Part XI of the Trade Marks Act 1955-1973; or

   (c)  in the case of a contract between the registered proprietor of a trade
        mark other than a certification trade mark and a person authorized by
        the contract to use the trade mark subject to registration as a
        registered user under Part IX of the Trade Marks Act 1955-1973-to any
        provision of the contract with respect to the kinds, qualities or
        standards of goods bearing the mark that may be produced or supplied.