Government to review role played by IP in private sector / PFRO collaborations

The Advisory Council of Intellectual Property (ACIP) is calling for submissions from Australian companies which have collaborated with publicly-funded research organisations (PFROs) as part of a review as to whether intellectual property (IP) rights such as patents and trademarks are a help or a hindrance.

PFROs are funded by organisations such as the Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council, and include Australian Universities.

ACIP is conducting the review at the behest of the federal department of innovation, industry science and research and will focus especially on collaborations involving IP, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, plant breeder’s rights and industrial designs.

In particular, ACIP has been asked by innovation minister Senator Kim Carr to examine whether IP is an enabler or a disabler of collaborations between the private and public sectors.

ACIP said that it will seek feedback from industry stakeholders to judge which areas of collaboration with Australian publicly-funded research organisations (PFROs) work well and which do not. It will also canvass the views of publicly funded organisations including the CSIRO, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Australian Institute of Medical Scientists, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australian universities and medical research institutes to identify which aspects of collaborations with private sector stakeholders work well and which do not.

ACIP is currently running a series of roundtables on IP issues relating to public private partnerships, with the first kicking of later this week in Perth.

Companies interested in accessing a submission form for the review can visit: http://www.acip.gov.au/collaborations_private.html

The deadline for submissions is December 17.