China to Cancel Patent Subsidies, and Emphasise Quality Over Quantity

As highlighted in a report recently published by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), entitled Trademarks and Patents in China: The Impact of Non-Market Factors on Filing Trends and IP Systems, the high rate of Chinese patent and trademark filings in recent years is widely believed to have been influenced by government subsidies and other ‘non-market factors’.  Since at least 2011, some Chinese applicants appear to have been taking advantage of the Australian innovation patent system to maximise the subsidies they are able to claim for foreign patent grants.  In 2020, Chinese residents were by far the largest users of the system, filing more innovation patent applications than all other nationalities combined.

But could it be that the days of government subsidies, and an associated massive growth in patent applications originating in China, are drawing to a close?

On 27 January 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced, in a notification entitled ‘Notice of the CNIPA on Further Strictly Regulating Patent Application Behaviour’ (in Chinese) (‘Notice’), that many lucrative subsidies must end by the middle of this year, with all others to be phased out by 2025.  (A brief report of the Notice can be found on the China IP Law Update blog, while a Google translation of the Chinese original is quite comprehensible.)

The Notice states that the overriding objective of the new regulations on patent application behaviour is:

In order to thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era; to earnestly implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council; and to earnestly promote China’s transformation from a major importer of intellectual property rights to a major country of IP creation, and from the pursuit of quantity to the improvement of quality.

 Read full article ► 

Tags: China, Innovation policy, Patent filing

Australian Patent Filings Fell in 2020, Despite Significant Growth (Again) in Applications from China

In 2020, the number of standard patent applications filed in Australia fell by 1.8%, to 29,240 from 29,786 in 2019.  Much of this decline can be attributed to domestic applicants, which filed around 10% fewer applications in 2020.  On the other hand, Chinese applicants filed nearly 20% more applications in 2020 than in 2019, falling only 48 applications short of the number filed by Australian applicants.  US residents remained the top users of the Australian standard patent system, being named on 13,037 applications, which was a 1.6% decline on 2019.

Among the leading origins for Australian patent filings, China, South Korea, the UK and Japan all increased their application numbers over 2019, while Canadian, Australian, French, and Swiss applicants filed substantially fewer applications.  The leading applicant, for the second year running, was Chinese telecommunications device manufacturer OPPO, which increased its new filings by 39%, to 435, eclipsing second-placed LG Electronics with 236 applications.  Rounding out the top three was Huawei, with 229 new applications in 2020.  Huawei’s heavy investment in Australian patents is interesting, considering that the company is barred from supplying advanced equipment for use in Australian telecommunications networks due to ‘security concerns’.  Perhaps it may yet expect to derive income from the Australian market in the form of licensing revenues from its standards-related and other patents.

The picture is very different for innovation patents – the second-tier rights that are now well into their final year of full availability before being phased out.  Chinese applicants seem to have treated the impending abolition of the system as if it is a ‘going out of business’ sale, increasing filings by over 400% and becoming by far the largest users of innovation patents.  Indian applicants seem also to have caught on, rather late in the piece, to the advantages of a system that enables a patent to be granted without the time and expense of substantive examination, with applications originating in India jumping from just eight in 2019 to 529 in 2020 (growth of over 6500%, if such a measure were meaningful off this small base).  Some US applicants also seem to have jumped at the final opportunity to obtain innovation patents, nearly doubling their filings from 86 in 2019 to 159 in 2020.

As usual, provisional applications were filed almost exclusively by Australian applicants.  The total number filed in 2020 was down by 2% on 2019.  However, it is likely that the number of ‘quality’ provisional has fallen by more than this number would indicate, with applications prepared and filed with the assistance of external patent attorneys having dropped by nearly 5%, while self-filing increased by a similar proportion.

 Read full article ► 

Tags: Australia, Patent analytics

How Up-to-Date is IP Australia’s AusPat Data?

One of the great resources provided by IP Australia is its AusPat online patent data service.  AusPat enables users to search for Australian patents and applications using a range of options and search fields, view numerous data items for each application, and access most incoming and outgoing correspondence via eDossier.  In my view, it is one of the best available systems for online access of national patent data.  For example, in comparison with the USPTO’s services, AusPat effectively combines the functionality of the US Patent Full-Text Databases, the Public Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system, and the Patent Assignment Search system, into a single convenient and powerful interface.  And while Australian patent information ultimately finds its way into various other public and proprietary databases, AusPat is the first place that any new filings, changes, or events will be reflected.  It is, therefore, the go-to source for the most up-to-date data on all Australian patents and applications.  I rely heavily upon AusPat for much of the analysis I present on this blog, including the regular updates I have been providing over the past few months on patent filings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One thing that other users may be wondering is: exactly how up-to-date is the data available in AusPat?  You might think that with almost all filing and other transactions now being conducted electronically, the consequences of any new applicant actions would be reflected immediately in AusPat.  However, that is not quite correct.

 Read full article ► 

Tags: Australia, Patent Office, Patent searching

While One IPH Firm Sues Former Partners, 20% of Patent Attorneys Jump Ship from Another

On 14 December 2020, Pizzeys Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys – a firm in the stable owned by listed company IPH Limited (ASX:IPH) – filed suit in the Federal Court of Australia against former Pizzeys principals William Bennett and Martin Richardson, along with the new firm they have established, RnB IP (collectively ‘RnB’).  The lawsuit alleges that Bennett and Richardson lured lucrative US law firm clients away from Pizzeys, in breach of non-compete, non-dealing, and/or non-solicitation restraints that were included in their employment contracts subsequent to the acquisition of Pizzeys by IPH.

This lawsuit has been a long time coming, after Pizzeys was awarded preliminary discovery back in December 2019.  The documents required to be produced by William Bennett following that decision included communications with Martin Richardson, marketing plans, and communications with prospective clients, relating to the establishment of RnB IP.  I believe that discovery was provided early in 2020, and it is unclear why it has taken Pizzeys so long to decide to commence proceedings against RnB.  Perhaps they would blame the pandemic?

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the IPH group, there appears to have been a recent exodus of patent attorneys from Griffith Hack.  In December 2020, there were 48 patent attorneys recorded on the Register maintained by the Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys Board (TTIPAB) as being employed by Griffith Hack, but only 37 of these were still listed on the firm’s web site.  I am aware that at least one of these was a departure earlier in 2020, but my understanding is that most are recent resignations where staff are currently on ‘gardening leave’, or otherwise temporarily restrained from commencing new employment (and thus updating their registration details). 

These numbers represent a loss of about 20% of registered patent attorneys from Griffith Hack over a short period of time, suggesting a significant level of dissatisfaction among the firm’s professional staff.  Whether this dates back to life under the ownership of Xenith IP (which acquired Griffith Hack in 2017), or is a consequence of the more recent management of IPH (which acquired Xenith in 2019) is unclear.

 Read full article ► 

Tags: Australia, Patent attorney profession