A Final Innovative Step: Australia Plans to Phase Out Innovation Patents – Ellis Terry

▤ Summary

On 25 July 2019, the Australian Government introduced a bill to make a number of changes to the patents system. The changes to Crown use of patents and designs and to compulsory licences will be of interest to some. This is ideal for incremental improvements which may not justify the expense of a standard patent, but still benefit from a level of protection. This will align Australia with jurisdictions like the United States and New Zealand which do not have a second-tier patent. This follows the Australian Productivity Commission’s report in 2016 that recommended abolishing innovation patents.

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