Australian Patents Act 1990 – As Amended

Patentology is indebted to fellow attorney Dr Julian Magarey, of Spruson & Ferguson Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, for supplying a copy of the current Australian Patents Act 1990 marked-up to show the amendments made by the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill, which received parliamentary approval earlier this week (see ‘Raising the Bar’ Moves Another Step Closer to Law).

The document not only shows all of the changes, additions and deletions in ‘redline’ format, but also identifies the specific provisions of Raising the Bar corresponding with the changes, by Schedule and Item number.

Julian kindly emailed us a copy, generously donating it to all Patentology readers.  We are certain that there are patent attorneys – and perhaps a few applicants – across Australia and around the world who will find this document to be an invaluable reference.  Indeed, it is not just for the next few weeks (before an official revised consolidated Act becomes available), or months (as the new provisions come into effect) that we will require the details of these sweeping reforms at our fingertips in a convenient format.  We have ahead of us over two decades during which patents granted under the current laws will live side-by-side with those subject to the new standards.

So, for those US attorneys facing the prospect of over 20 years dealing with pre- and post-America Invents Act patents, we feel your pain!

Julian’s marked-up Act, and the text of the Bill as passed by the Australian Parliament, are available via the following links:

1. Australian Patents Act 1990, as amended (PDF, via Google Docs);
2. Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011.

If anyone spots any errors or omissions in the marked-up document, Julian would appreciate a heads-up.  We will gladly relay any messages sent to our email address or submitted via the comments below.

---

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, Law reform, Patent law, Raising the Bar