Government Review of Intellectual Property accessibility for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

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The Federal Government has just announced the launch of a review into Australia’s patents system which aims to specifically examine the accessibility of Intellectual Property for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The accessibility review was mandated by the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 2 and Other Measures) Act 2020 which commenced earlier this year. In …
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Commissioner of Patents v Rokt Pte Ltd

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The law relating to the patentability of computer-implemented inventions is beginning to look settled in Australia following Commissioner of Patents v Rokt Pte Ltd (Rokt)[1]. The Full Federal Court in Rokt has reversed a curious decision of the primary judge in favour of a digital advertising method being patentable subject matter. In upholding the Commissioner’s …
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IP Australia extends streamlined COVID-19 Extensions of Time to 30 June 2020

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As noted in our previous blog post, IP Australia introduced a new streamlined process for extension of time requests for Applicants impacted by COVID-19.  These arrangements have now been extended until at least 30 June 2020. By way of reminder, extension of time is available to extend most Patents, Trade Marks, and Designs deadlines for up to three months, and is: …
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Australia can now visit the European Patent Office without jetlag

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COVID-19 has affected many aspects of conventional life and business and the European Patent Office (EPO) is no exception as social distancing requirements have recently resulted in a decision that all Oral Proceedings before the EPO’s examining divisions are to be held via video conference (VC). While VC facilities have been available to the EPO …
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Recognised POF practitioners – MIP IP Stars 2020

We’re proud to announce that a number of POF attorneys have been named among this year’s IP Stars in the 2020 MIP IP Stars awards. This year our Patent Stars were Managing Partner Ross McFarlane, Partners Dr Edwin Patterson and Alyssa Telfer, and Special Counsel Saskia Jahn.  Additionally,  Partners Russell Waters and Michael O’Donnell have …
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Much needed clarification on allowability of amendments post Raising the Bar

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The Federal Court of Australia recently overturned a decision by the Commissioner of Patents whilst clarifying the test for determining whether an amendment to a complete specification is allowable (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation v BASF Plant Science GmbH [2020] FCA 328). In doing so, the Federal Court concluded that the approach taken under …
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