In the last couple of weeks the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been subject to some harsh criticism after granting a patent naming Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk and 13 co-workers as inventors. Managing Intellectual Property provides a brief summary of the ‘controversy’, noting that the grant of the patent (no. 8,647,872) has been described as representing ‘staggering incompetence’ on the part of the USPTO, which has supposedly been ‘embarrassed’ by its actions.I doubt the USPTO is embarrassed. At least it has had the courage to follow the law as it stands, and let the cards fall as they may, which is (as I will explain) more than can be said for IP Australia. The reasons for which the Hwang patent was granted (or, perhaps more to the point, could not be rejected) are worthy of discussion.
In 2011, the Canadian Patent Office granted a patent to Dr Hwang and his team. Yet earlier, in 2008, the Australian Patent Office initially accepted a corresponding application before subsequently nullifying that decision in circumstances that, to my mind, were themselves highly controversial.
