IP Australia, the government authority comprising the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices, has today announced that it "is proud to sponsor the Grand Final of the ABC’s New Inventors, 8.30pm Thursday 23 September on ABC1."The New Inventors' is all about inventions and inventors. Each week three totally new, never before seen inventions are demonstrated, examined, prodded, pushed, pulled and occasionally dropped by host James O'Loghlin. Their inventors are then subjected to a barrage of questions by the three member judging panel. At the end of the show the judges choose a winner, who may advance to the show's grand final at the end of the year.The connection between IP Australia and New Inventors is a natural one, although for patent attorneys it can be either depressing or cringeworthy to watch hopeful inventors parade their unprotected inventions on national television each week!
We do wonder, however, about the precise nature of this so-called "sponsorship". Without wishing to take over the role of Media Watch, many readers will be aware that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is a non-commercial, government-funded broadcaster which is subject to restrictions on its ability to accept funding in exchange for promotional consideration. On the other hand, the ABC is expressly permitted by Section 25(5)(a) of the ABC Act to receive funds from the Commonwealth, State or Territory Governments or their authorities for the production and broadcast of particular programs or announcements.
We are confident that the arrangement is above board, but perhaps "sponsorship" is not the most appropriate word in the circumstances! No doubt IP Australia is, in fact, proud to perform services, provide facilities and/or pay monies, within the meaning of Section 25(5)(a) of the ABC Act 1983, to support the production of the Grand Final of the ABC's New Inventors!
Admittedly, "sponsor" is more concise.
In any event, we wish the finalists the best of luck, and hope that the winner is one of the few to have actually taken action to protect their intellectual property before broadcasting it to the world!
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
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