Intellectual Property (IP) rights in Australia have a long and rich history, with the first known use of the term ‘intellectual property’ dating back to 1769.IP rights, however, are hardly archaic, with the system continually evolving and adapting to a modernizing world
By Office of Chief Economist
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Australian Government
Intellectual
Property (IP) rights in Australia have a long and rich history, with the first
known use of the term ‘intellectual property’ dating back to 1769.[1] IP
rights, however, are hardly archaic, with the system continually evolving and
adapting to a modernizing world.
Today IP rights exist to provide an incentive to invest in innovation. They provide a right to exclude others from using an
innovation in exchange for the full public disclosure of the invention, brand
name, design or new plant species. A well functioning IP system can foster
innovation and encourage the flow of ideas. It can benefit innovators,
investors, and consumers alike, as well as the broader community by
incentivising investment in innovation while also facilitating the public
dissemination of new ideas.
As the IP system
becomes increasingly important to business, and the demand for IP rights
continues to grow, so too does the importance of having a well-functioning IP
system that strikes the right balance between incentivising future innovation
and maximizing the benefits of innovation across the whole community. To this
end, the Productivity Commission has recently commenced a 12-month public
inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property system that is due for release
in August 2016.
The Global Stage
Australia is an
active participant in the international IP system and is a party to many
international IP treaties and agreements.[2] Some of these agreements set
guidelines and standards to be met for IP rights protection in signatory
countries and others unify procedures for the filing of IP rights applications.
By participating in international IP treaties and agreements Australia has
aligned its interaction with international IP systems to a high degree, thereby
reducing the regulatory burden on Australian IP right applicants and increasing
assurance of a globally consistent outcome.[3]
IP rights are
also a prominent feature in Australia’s multilateral and Free Trade Agreements
(FTAs). Australian trade policy seeks to reduce costs to Australian businesses
through streamlining and harmonizing international processes, while also
providing greater certainty of the outcomes of IP rights claims for exporters
and investors.
In addition to
being a signatory to IP treaties and agreements, IP Australia (the Australian
IP office) works collaboratively with IP offices across the globe to improve
the efficiency of its operations and ultimately reduce costs to Australian
businesses. These initiatives include:
The Global
Patent Prosecution Highway — an initiative allowing patent applicants to
request accelerated examination in one office based on the same application being
granted in another office.
The Vancouver
Group — an initiative that includes the Australian, UK and Canadian IP offices
and facilitates sharing of information and experiences on common issues to
inform best practice behaviour and improve the efficiency of office operations.
WIPO CASE — a
global system spearheaded by IP Australia that enables patent offices to
securely share documentation related to the search and examination of patent
applications in order to improve the efficiency of the examination process.
The Single
Economic Market agenda — the New Zealand and Australian Governments are working
to remove regulatory barriers to firms operating in both markets. The aim is to
create a more seamless trans-Tasman business environment through introducing
new processes, such as a single regulatory framework for patent attorneys and a
single application and examination process for patents.
Global trade
mark database — IP Australia is currently engaged in a multinational project to
develop a global database for trade mark recognition and linking, to make it
easier to compare and evaluate policy impacts across countries.
Regional Patent
Examination Training — IP Australia has developed a comprehensive distance
learning capability for patent examination training for overseas IP offices.
This allows for in depth training and knowledge transfer necessary to examine
patents to international standards.
At present, some
of the processes for obtaining, maintaining and challenging the four IP rights
administered by IP Australia are complex and may create additional regulatory
effort for some parties. This can create costs for businesses dealing with the
IP system, particularly smaller businesses that face compliance costs
disproportionate to their size. Businesses may incur significant costs due to
lost opportunities and having to adopt alternative strategies. Some of the
causes of this complexity include:
- Different administrative processes and rules exist between the IP rights
- Administrative procedures may be more burdensome than they need to be
- Delays in the examination and granting of IP rights that can lead to prolonged
To address these
issues, IP Australia is placing a high priority on aligning and streamlining
processes, improving service delivery and reducing unnecessary delays. This will
make administration of the system more efficient for IP Australia and for
applicants.
In February
2015, IP Australia released a consultation paper on proposals to streamline IP
processes and support small business. This consultation paper helps Government
understand the costs and benefits of policy options to address a range of
issues.
The Government
received 20 submissions and is currently drafting the legislative changes in
light of the issues raised. IP Australia intends to release an exposure draft
of the legislative changes for public comment before introducing the bill to
Parliament in early 2016, subject to Government priorities.
The consultation
paper includes over twenty proposals to streamline IP processes and support
small business. This is grouped into three main themes:
- Aligning and simplifying
- Assisting small business; and
- Technical fixes. "Table Below" summarizes the aim of each proposal and provides a few examples.
Modernizing IP
Australia
In a constantly
changing environment it is critical that IP Australia maintains an effective
and contemporary operation and identifies and adopts best practice to harness
new efficiencies and to provide greater value to Australian businesses and
research organisations. This has led to a number of recent reforms to ensure
Australia’s IP system remains modern and flexible.
The reforms
being implemented by IP Australia include:
Rights in One
(RIO)
will allow the harmonisation of IP Australia business processes across all four
IP Rights groups, realising efficiencies for both internal and external users.
The Patent
Analytics Hub
— the Hub has been introduced to assist the Australian innovation community
capitalise on its knowledge and ideas. This is achieved by providing analysis
of IP issues to Australian Government agencies and Australian research
organisations that informs research priorities and the efficacy of IP decision making.
IP Government
Open Data
— a publicly available set of IP Australia’s administrative data dating back to
the early 1900s. It contains information on each aspect of the application
process from application through to the granting of IP rights, matched to firm
data from the Australian Business Register. The data is of value to IP
researchers and professionals, and supports the development and implementation
of policies associated with intellectual property in Australia.
The IP Toolkit — together, the
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and IP Australia released an
educational resource and information package on business.gov.au in September
2015. The toolkit is designed to assist stakeholders, especially small
businesses, in managing IP in research collaboration.
The Source IP
digital marketplace
— a one-stop-shop for information sharing, licensing preferences and
facilitating contact for IP generated by the public research sector in
Australia. This initiative will seek to address a current barrier to
collaboration and commercialization through making information about available public sector IP more accessible.
Endnotes:
[1] Oxford
English Dictionary (3rd Ed.), Oxford University Press, September 2005 (citing
Monthly Review, vol. 41. p. 290 (1769))
[2] Such
treaties include the Paris Convention, the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement),
the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Patent Law Treaty, the Singapore
Treaty on the Law of Trade marks, the Madrid Protocol, the Nice Agreement, and
the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants
(UPOV).
[3] For example,
an Australian applicant may file an international patent application through
the PCT, making it easier for them to apply for a patent in multiple overseas
jurisdictions. Another example is an Australian plant breeder who can be
assured that other UPOV signatory countries will offer them similar protection
for Plant Breeder’s Rights.
Source: Licensed
from the Commonwealth of Australia under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Australia License. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse
the content of this publication.
For more
information or to comment on the report, please contact: Manager - Industry and
Firm Analysis, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science GPO Box 9839
CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: +61 2 6213 6000 Email:
AustralianIndustryReport@industry.gov.au
