The Number 1 Patent Tip for Business: Keep it Secret!!

By Rhys Munzel, Patent Attorney & Senior Associate It is very common for businesses introducing a new product to the market to consider intellectual property protection after the product has successfully launched. A business may say, “this is selling well, how do I stop my competitors from copying my product?” Business are then surprised to learn … Read more

Australia’s p-AI-tent System: the Artificially Intelligent Inventor

Australia’s p-AI-tent System: the Artificially Intelligent Inventor

The Federal Court of Australia handed down its decision in Thaler v Commissioner of Patents [2021] FCA 879 on 30 July 2021. As a result, The Honourable Justice Beach over-turned the decision of the Australian Patent Office. Hence, they found that an artificial intelligence (AI) system named DABUS could be the inventor of an Australian patent. Subsequently, … Read more

A look at IP Australia’s Indigenous Knowledge Project

IP Australia (i.e. Australia’s Patent, Designs, Trade Marks and PBR Office) recently released further details of its upcoming Indigenous Knowledge Project, including a Work Plan for 2020-2021. The Work Plan outlines several proposed initiatives for greater protection of indigenous knowledge and indigenous cultural expressions. Perhaps most immediately, IP Australia has forecast upcoming consultations on proposed … Read more

Stating the Obvious: Textual Approach to Obviousness

On September 2 2015 the High Court handed down a widely anticipated decision in AstraZeneca AB v Aptoex Pty Ltd.(1) The court unanimously dismissed AstraZeneca’s appeal, holding that AstraZeneca’s patent was invalid because it was obvious and therefore lacked the requisite inventive step within Sections 7(2) and 7(3) of the Patents Act 1990. Facts Compounds known … Read more