Last Sunday, 15 April 2012, the Governor General of Australia, Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, signed into law the Intellectual Property Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act.The majority of amendments to Australia’s intellectual property laws do not come into effect for another year, i.e. on 15 April 2013. We have covered most of the major changes affecting patents in a number of previous articles (see, e.g., ‘Raising the Bar’ Moves Another Step Closer to Law, Major Australian Patent Reform Passes in Senate, Australian Patent Reform – Wrap-Up.)
No doubt we will return to these provisions over the coming months, particularly with accompanying amendments to the regulations yet to be drafted. IP Australia is promising that it will soon release draft regulations for public comment, ‘covering important aspects of the Act’s implementation including a shorter time period for examination, and other procedural changes for patents.’
There are, however, two changes which came into effect immediately the Act was signed into law. These are new exemptions (i.e. defences) from patent infringement in specific circumstances:
- use of a patented invention in satisfying regulatory requirements for non-pharmaceutical products; and
- use of a patented invention for experimental purposes.
