
Use of Open Source Software Can Affect Your IP & Rights
Open source does not mean giving up on your IP rights. There is a middle ground or hybrid approach where IP rights may be retained whilst making use of open source software.
I love seeing my clients and their businesses grow, because I feel like I grow with them. There’s no better feeling than staying with an inventor from the first discussion of their idea, through successfully protecting their IP rights, to seeing them generate profits from their hard work and creativity.
We were delighted to welcome Qi to the Baxter IP team in 2016. Specialising in mobile communications, electrical engineering and mechanics, he works with private inventors, start-ups and SMEs, helping to identify and protect their IP assets and providing comprehensive support from concept through to commercialisation.
Qi provides clear, practical advice to clients on the patentability of their inventions and patenting strategies, in light of their specific goals and business strategies. He also drafts patent specifications and prosecutes patent applications in major jurisdictions, including Australia, US, China, Europe, Japan, Korea and other emerging economies.
Our clients appreciate Qi for his straightforward, jargon-free advice and for his strong focus on helping them to generate sustainable value from their ideas and hard work. Qi helps his clients explore different ideas and options, and make informed decisions about a patent strategy and commercialisation pathway to suit their individual circumstances and goals.
Prior to joining Baxter IP, Qi has enjoyed a highly successful international career in IP protection and management. In 2012 he was invited to join a tier-1 patent attorney firm in Sydney, where he qualified as an Australian patent attorney. Working with high-profile international clients and leading Australian research organisations, including NICTA, CSIRO and the University of Sydney, he provided expert advice on global patent strategies, drafted patent specifications, and provided legal and technical analyses of patentability in multiple technical areas including software, business methods, financial services, electronics, and mechatronics.
Before his move to Sydney Qi’s career took him to the USA, where he furthered his education in the IP field by completing a Master degree in Intellectual Property Management & Markets. As a patent researcher with a US patent consulting firm, he applied these learnings to help clients create tangible commercial value from their intangible IP assets – identifying valuable patents in hot consumer markets and advising clients on building their patent portfolios. His work also included identifying potential patent infringements and supporting clients through infringement litigation.
The foundations of Qi’s intellectual property career were built in China, where he worked with one of the top patent attorney firms in China after completing his Ph.D in electrical engineering in 2005. His work there included providing legal and technical advice, and managing the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications for major international clients including Motorola, Samsung, 3M, GE and Yamaha.
It was a pleasant time to see Dr. Qi Zhang, the attorney at Baxter IP, Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys in his office a few years ago. I should say he is a kind and very professional attorney in dealing with cases in IP: Patent & Trade Mark field. He and his team are helpful and reliable. Thank Qi Zhang and his team.
It's been a great experience working with Dr Qi Zhang on our patent application. His strategic thinking on patent and business strategies make it possible for us to maximize the value from our IP investment. Dr Qi Zhang is not a traditional patent attorney, but a trusted advisor!
Our company's "mission impossible" IP Grant hundred percent benefits from Dr. Qi Zhang's expertised knowledge of information technology and hands on experience of IP application. Really appreciate the service delivered by BaxterIP and would definitely introduce fellow businesses to seek IP solution from BaxterIP.
Open source does not mean giving up on your IP rights. There is a middle ground or hybrid approach where IP rights may be retained whilst making use of open source software.
Unlike established businesses that normally have their IP activities documented in detail by experienced staff, most start-up companies do not have a comprehensive understanding of their IP. This means the traditional questionnaire-centered IP audit approach will not work because the questions may not be interpreted properly, and the answers may not be accurate due to lack of IP experience and valid IP record.
Based on our investigation into the recent court and IP Australia decisions on patentability of four Aristocrat software innovation patents, we present three actionable steps in this article for patent attorneys and innovators to reduce subject matter objection risk for software patents from the outset. This article also gives an example of a certified software innovation patent without the subject matter objection raised during certification.