On 11 September 2020, the Deputy Director-General of IP Australia issued three notices relating to extension of time fees concerning patent, trade mark and design applications. The notices provide that fees will not apply to some extensions of time during the COVID-19 pandemic requested in the period 1 October to 31 October 2020. Exemptions are currently in place to the …
IP Australia Changed Their Official Fees – Did You Get the Memo?
Did you know that on 1 October 2020, IP Australia changed its official fees for IP services? To assist with an understanding of the changes, we provide a brief summary. As of 1 October 2020, IP Australia significantly increased some of their patent, trade mark, design and plant breeders rights (PBR) fees. The fee changes have the greatest impact on …
Bringing Secret Use Into the Light
The following article considers a recent Australian Federal Court decision concerning secret use as a ground of patent revocation in Australia. Is an Advertisement Prior to the Priority Date a Secret Use of an Invention? In Australia, an invention may only be granted a patent if, at the priority of the patent application, the invention is novel and possesses an …
Oops! What Happened to Pages X and Y?
Lessons for patent drafting One recurring nightmare (of which there are many) that keeps patent attorneys awake at night, is that of filing a patent specification with pages missing. This is a particular concern at the complete filing stage of the patenting process, where a complete patent specification is prepared, typically based on a priority specification, and which hopefully includes …
Is Your Online Platform Transparent Enough?
Three lessons learned from the HealthEngine Case The ACCC recently chalked up another victory as part of a recent spate of enforcement efforts targeted at online businesses in the wake of its Digital Platform Inquiry which concluded last year. The overarching lesson here is quite simple. If you are not transparent in your dealings with consumers (and this includes telling …
The Global Innovation Index 2020 Demonstrates the Continued Rise of Asian Economies in the Innovation Sphere
The overall Index rank of the top ten countries is largely dominated by the US and Europe. However, this year, together with Singapore at #8 (second year in a row), the Republic of Korea made it into the Index at #10 (up from #11), which means two Asian countries now make up the top 10. Australia came in at #23 …
Update on IP Australia’s Streamlined Extensions of Time Process
As part of its COVID-19 relief measures, IP Australia has announced that the streamlined process for requesting fee-free extensions of time of up to three months on a range of actions will be continued until 31 October 2020. If a streamlined three-month extension of time has already been obtained by an Applicant for a patent, trade mark, or design and …
Using Preliminary Discovery in Your IP Enforcement Strategy in Australia
You have secured your patent rights and are enjoying the fruits of your innovative labour – the benefits that come from supplying a product that outperforms the competition – when a new business appears with an offering that matches your own. You are suspicious that they are using your patented technology (they have no history of serious R&D, so have …
Asahi Succeeds in Defending the Allowability of Its Post-Acceptance Claim Amendments in Opposition Proceedings Brought by EMD
In the latest Australian Patent Office decision to consider the allowability of post-acceptance amendments, the patent applicant, Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd. (Asahi), prevailed over the opponent EMD Millipore Corporation (EMD) in defending its amended claims. EMD opposed the grant of Asahi’s patent application for a porous membrane that is useful for removing, by filtration, viruses and other pathogens from …
IPONZ Trade Mark Systems Error
It has recently come to our attention that the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has mistakenly issued misleading status notifications to WIPO regarding a number of New Zealand trade marks, by incorrectly indicating that the New Zealand designation for the affected International Registrations (“IRNZ”) has been refused or accepted. Consequently, the status of some IRNZ’s is incorrectly displayed …