Government proposes “tough new standards” for Innovation Patents

The Federal Government said in media release this week that it is “considering tough new standards for Innovation Patents in order to discourage large companies from abusing the IP system.”

The Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation, Mark Dreyfus, made the announce which said that, at present, innovation patents protect simple inventions and improvements to existing technologies. “They also require an innovative step, whereas standard patents require an inventive step.”

Innovation patents were introduced in 2001 to encourage IP protection for small to medium enterprises. Since the Delnorth (2009) decision in the Federal Court, relatively obvious minor improvements to inventions have been patentable.

"The patent system must balance public and private interests. We want sufficient protection to reward inventors but not block obvious follow-on innovation," said Mr Dreyfus.

As a result of the announcement, IP Australia has invited comment on a proposed amendment to the Patents Act 1990, which would raise the patentability threshold for Innovation Patents to the same level of inventiveness as required for Standard Patents.

Submissions are due by 25 October 2012. To view the consultation paper, find out how to make a submission, or to get more information, please visit the consultation page.

Mr Dreyfus said: “Some larger companies are now working the system to extend the life of their patents and deliberately target competitors. There has been an unusual growth of innovation patent applications for certain technologies, such as IT and pharmaceuticals.

"Left unchecked, this could lead to more expensive medicines and a lack of competition in some markets," Mr Dreyfus said.