
Meeting patent deadlines in Australia and New Zealand during the Covid-19 outbreak
Stay informed about the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on patent services around the world. Coordinate with our patent attorneys at this time of crisis.
Australian utility model patents are uniquely termed “innovation patents.” While an Australian innovation patent is considered a second tier Australian patent because of the lower threshold of patentability required for certification, it can be used as a powerful tool in patent litigation. The advantages and disadvantages of an innovation patent when compared with a standard patent are as follows.
If an Australian innovation patent application is filed within 12 months of a foreign patent filing in a country that is a member of the Paris Convention, the patent can claim the filing date of the particular foreign patent.
Despite being a second tier patent, Australian innovation patents offer several advantages over standard patents. The benefits of an innovation patent include
Grant of an Australian innovation patent is often achieved in less than 8 weeks. This is because innovation patent applications are not subject to a pre-grant substantive patent examination (they are however subjected to a formalities examination).
The requirements for grant of an innovation patent filing to be granted are more easily met than for a standard patent. Specifically, the claims of innovation patents do not require an inventive step over the prior art. In place of this requirement is the requirement that innovation patent claims include an innovative step, although this requirement is readily met by the innovation in question making a substantial contribution to the working of the product or process. Since obviousness is not a legitimate argument for invalidity, innovation patents are difficult to invalidate.
Since innovation patents are relatively fast to obtain and difficult to invalidate, they are an ideal vehicle for Australia patent litigation.
As innovation patents are subject to a lower threshold for patentability, they are particularly useful in protecting progressive enhancements to products and processes that may be obvious and therefore cannot be protected by a standard patent.
Stay informed about the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on patent services around the world. Coordinate with our patent attorneys at this time of crisis.
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