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 section 102(1) of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) (the Act) as amended by the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act 2012 (Cth) (the Raising the Bar Act) aligns with the UK approach.