Last month, we reported on the non-exposure of IP Australia's 'exposure draft' of proposed patent reform legislation, and expressed our concerns about the apparent secrecy surrounding a matter of such broad public interest as the workings of Australia's patent system.We are therefore very pleased to report that the exposure draft of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011, along with the draft Explanatory Memorandum, is now available to the public.
IP Australia is inviting submissions, which are due by 4 April 2011. For those to whom the exposure draft has been exposed since December, this has been a relatively generous time period. For everyone else, one month is a challenging timeframe for the digestion of the 102 page draft Bill, and 118 page Draft Explanatory Memorandum, and preparation and filing of any submissions.
We note that IP Australia has preempted the possible submission of comments relating specifically to the vexed issue of gene patents. We would likewise encourage anybody considering a submission to focus on issues specifically raised by this Bill. There have been ample opportunities already for submission to inquiries directed to the gene patents issue, which is currently being addressed by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee.
Before You Go…
Thank you for reading this article to the end – I hope you enjoyed it, and found it useful. Almost every article I post here takes a few hours of my time to research and write, and I have never felt the need to ask for anything in return.
But now – for the first, and perhaps only, time – I am asking for a favour. If you are a patent attorney, examiner, or other professional who is experienced in reading and interpreting patent claims, I could really use your help with my PhD research. My project involves applying artificial intelligence to analyse patent claim scope systematically, with the goal of better understanding how different legal and regulatory choices influence the boundaries of patent protection. But I need data to train my models, and that is where you can potentially assist me. If every qualified person who reads this request could spare just a couple of hours over the next few weeks, I could gather all the data I need.
The task itself is straightforward and web-based – I am asking participants to compare pairs of patent claims and evaluate their relative scope, using an online application that I have designed and implemented over the past few months. No special knowledge is required beyond the ability to read and understand patent claims in technical fields with which you are familiar. You might even find it to be fun!
There is more information on the project website, at claimscopeproject.net. In particular, you can read:
- a detailed description of the study, its goals and benefits; and
- instructions for the use of the online claim comparison application.
Thank you for considering this request!
Mark Summerfield
2 comments:
Correction to submission due date - 4 Apr rather than 4 Mar (tomorrow!)
Oops - thanks for pointing out the error! I have corrected the date.
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