IP law update
Australian patent law changes about to be introduced
In brief: The threshold for obtaining a patent in Australia is about to be raised to increase the likelihood that granted patents are valid. These changes are contained in the Patents Amendment Act 2001 (Cth), which comes into force on 1 April 2002.
19 February - The changes, which were first highlighted in the 24 August 2001 edition of AAR's Biotech News, are explained in detail in AAR's January 2002 Intellectual Property Bulletin.
In summary, the new changes raise the threshold for obtaining a patent in three ways:
- Making it harder to satisfy the tests of novelty and obviousness (both of which must be established in order for a patent to be granted) through extending the 'prior art base' to include publicly available information anywhere in the world, and by allowing for pieces of information to be combined (ie a mosaic) and included as part of the prior art base.
- Reversing the burden of proof so that an applicant must demonstrate to the Patent Office that its application satisfies the requirements of novelty and obviousness.
- Introducing a more stringent duty of disclosure owed by applicants. This new duty will require applicants to disclose to the Commissioner of Patents the results of all searches (relating to the existing state of knowledge) carried out in Australia and overseas up until the time when the patent is granted.
