IP Australia Introduces New Forms, New 'Corporate Branding'

Last week, IP Australia announced upcoming changes to its various official forms, commencing with new Patents Forms to be launched today (31 January 2010).

The reasons for the update include providing users with information and links in relation to IP Australia's new Privacy Policy, grouping fields for personal information together on a single page, and removing the need for signatures, except when required by legislation.

But the part we found most intriguing was the promise that the new forms would apply IP Australia's 'new corporate branding'.

Now the new forms have now been released, we have been able to get our first look at what is presumably a facet of a new look for IP Australia...

So here it is:


IP Australia's New Form Header...



...and Footer.

It seems that IP Australia's new corporate colours are a purplish-shade of brown (or perhaps a brownish-shade of purple - if someone can provide a better description for that colour, please let us know) along with blue, red, green, and yellow representing the four types of rights administered by IP Australia, i.e. patents, trade marks, registered designs and plant breeders' rights.

Also notable is the new slogan: Robust intellectual property rights delivered efficiently.

This slogan appears to reflect IP Australia's reform agenda, which we have mentioned previously on this blog.  However, most of the proposed reforms have yet to be implemented.  We therefore anticipate that the agency's corporate rebranding may take place over a relatively extended period.

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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:

1. a detailed description of the study, its goals and benefits; and
2. instructions for the use of the online claim comparison application.

Thank you for considering this request!

Mark Summerfield

Tags: Australia, News, Patent Office