Australian Innovation System Report 2012 Compendium of Program Updates

IP AUSTRALIA

Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention Exhibition

IP Australia is the principal sponsor of “Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention”, currently on show at Scienceworks in Melbourne.

Originally developed by the UK Intellectual Property Office, Aardman Animation and the Science Museum in London, the exhibition has been adapted for Australian audiences with heavy involvement from IP Australia. The exhibition makes use of Aardman’s well-known Wallace and Gromit characters to highlight the importance of ideas and innovation in everyday life. The exhibition explains the role of intellectual property (IP) and how it can be protected using real life examples and interactive exhibits. The exhibition was officially opened to the public in Australia on 19 May 2012.

Support of the exhibition provides IP Australia with an unprecedented opportunity to deliver its IP education and awareness messages to a broad audience including children, students, SME owners and employees, teachers, designers and inventors over a continuous period. The exhibition travels to the Powerhouse in Sydney from 12 December 2012 until 26 May 2013.

As at 31 July 2012, 60,400 people had visited the exhibition.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

In November 2011 IP Australia met with Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA) to discuss the uptake of IP units by registered training organisations and TAFE institutions. The outcome of this discussion was a recommendation by IBSA to submit a discussion paper requesting that some of the units become a mandatory component of one or more business qualifications. The request will be reviewed by IBSA in the next 12 months.

IP Australia’s partnership with the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) to promote the units to their membership base through general promotion, a newsletter case study, website and email marketing, two breakfast events in Sydney and Melbourne, an editorial and an advertisement in Industry Magazine, a prominent industry publication, has been successfully completed. The relationship has resulted in a number of registered training organisations expressing interest in the units.

An editorial targeting educators entitled ‘Four reasons to offer IP training' has been published in the industry journal ‘RTO Management’ magazine to promote the benefits of adding an IP unit to their subject offering. From this article, 15 new leads have been received by interested training organisations. Face-to-face meetings are taking place with interested parties.

IP Australia has negotiated participation in the 2012 National VET Conference where IP units will be promoted to key decision makers within a range of training organisations.

Accountants

IP Australia is currently in negotiations with CPA Australia to agree on a work program for the 2012/13 financial year. The agreement is likely to include a host of initiatives such as the development of web content, training sessions and vodcasts designed to increase understanding of IP amongst CPA members.

Improving the IP system

The Venturous Australia report noted that there is a perception in the business community that some rights, particularly patents, are granted too easily and are ambiguously defined. This perception can lead to uncertainty in the business community, particularly as those rights may be disputed and subjected to costly and time-consuming court proceedings.

One of the reasons that Australian IP rights are susceptible to criticism both at home and abroad is the patentability tests enshrined in the patents legislation. Those tests go directly to the idea of the ‘robustness’ of an IP right which can stand its ground in the marketplace. It is not in Australia’s best interests, as a large net importer of technology, to set its patentability tests lower than other countries’ tests; nor is it in the interests of potential Australian exporters of innovation to have to deal with differing standards in different countries.

In 2008-09, IP Australia embarked on an IP rights law reform project, incorporating proposals from the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property, the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Powering Ideas report. The IP reforms will reduce barriers in the innovation landscape for researchers and inventors, improve certainty about the validity of granted patents, and allow patent claims to be resolved faster.

Between 2009 and 2011, IP Australia conducted a multi-stage public consultation process culminating in an exposure draft Bill. The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 was passed by Parliament and assented to on 15 April 2012.

Key elements of the Raising the Bar Act are amendments to the Patents Act 1990 to:

1. 
   Raise patent thresholds and increase certainty in the validity of granted patents. These changes will mean that patents granted in Australia will meet patent standards in other jurisdictions, which will provide greater certainty to Australian innovators about the robustness of their Australian patents and their ability to export their inventions. Higher patent thresholds will also benefit Australian innovators who wish to conduct follow-on innovation involving patented technology and who have less freedom to operate where over-broad patents are granted.
   
2. 
   Introduce a statutory exemption from patent infringement by research activities. The exemption gives researchers greater certainty about where they have freedom to operate.
   

The majority of the changes are due to commence on 15 April 2013. However, an exception to this is the statutory exemption from patent infringement for research activities, which commenced the day after Royal Assent, on 16 April 2012.

REVIEWS AND/OR EVALUATIONS

Collaborations between the Public and Private Sectors: The Role of Intellectual Property

(A review currently undertaken by the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property)

Background

The Australian Government is committed to increasing the level of collaborations between business, universities and other publicly-funded research organisations (PFROs).

About the review

In June 2010, the then Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, requested that the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) investigate and report on how intellectual property acts as an enabler or disabler of knowledge sharing, translational research and collaborations, particularly between the private and public sectors.

The inquiry collected information about collaboration models between industry and Australian PFROs, and about experiences with such collaborations, including how matters involving IP arise and affect collaborations. ACIP conducted this review in cooperation with the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE).

ACIP will present its Final Report to the Minister for Industry and Innovation, the Hon Greg Combet AM MP, in August 2012. This Report will identify important factors that affect the formation and operation of collaborations and include recommendations on how these can be improved.

Review of the Innovation Patent System

(A review currently undertaken by the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property)

Background

The innovation patent system was established in 2001 to stimulate innovation in Australian small to medium business enterprises. It protects incremental or low level inventions that do not meet the inventive threshold required for standard patent protection and are not covered by design legislation.

In recent years a variety of concerns have been raised about the innovation patent system and whether it is meeting its original objectives. A key concern is that an innovation patent is overly difficult to invalidate and the remedies for infringement are overly generous. Another concern is that innovation patents are being used to obtain a form of quick protection for higher level inventions while a standard patent is being pursued. Also, the innovation patent system has never been reviewed to assess whether it remains effective and appropriate for Australia now and in the future.

About the review

On 28 February 2011, the then Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, requested that ACIP investigate the effectiveness of the innovation patent system in stimulating innovation by Australian small to medium business enterprises.

The investigation includes broad consultations with stakeholders. ACIP released an Issues Paper in August 2011 to seek the views of interested parties. A number of written submissions were received. ACIP also conducted a number of public forums in October 2011 to discuss the key issues.

ACIP through its Working Group has not found any clear evidence that the innovation patent system is being used in a way that it was not intended. However there are behaviours or potential strategic uses of the innovation patent system that may warrant further investigation. Also, the Parliamentary Secretary, the Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP, wrote to the Chair of ACIP in June 2012 requesting advice from ACIP on an appropriate level of inventiveness for the innovation patent.

An Interim Report will be released in August - September 2012 to seek further public input on a number of possible options for reforming the innovation patent system. A Final Report outlining ACIP’s findings and any recommendations for change is expected in early-mid 2013.

Review of the Designs System

(A review currently undertaken by the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property)

Background

The current designs system has been in operation since the commencement of the Designs Act 2003 on 17 June 2004. The designs system protects the visual features of a product – including the shape, configuration, pattern and ornamentation which, when applied to the product, give it a unique appearance.

In recent years a variety of concerns has been raised about the effectiveness of the designs system and whether it is meeting its original policy objectives. The designs system has not been comprehensively reviewed since its commencement in 2004 to assess whether it is effective and appropriate for Australia now and in the future.

About the review

On 17 May 2012, the Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry, the Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP, requested that ACIP investigate the effectiveness of the designs system in stimulating innovation by Australian users and the impact the designs system has on economic growth.

As part of its investigations, ACIP plans to release an Issues Paper to seek views from stakeholders, including users of the designs system. ACIP also plans to undertake roundtables with stakeholders in major capital cities.

ACIP expects to release the Issues Paper in late 2012. ACIP plans to undertake roundtables with stakeholders in early-mid 2013. A Final Report outlining ACIP’s findings and any recommendations for change is expected in late 2013 – early 2014.