Spring-boarding to catch up with the rest of the world:

Copyright Thursday, March 30, 2006 Duncan Bucknell Company

On 30 March 2006, the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 2006 was introduced into the House of Representatives of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament.

For a copy of the bill — click here.

For a copy of the explanatory memorandum — click here.

For a copy of the Ministerial press release — click here.

For a copy of IP Australia’s press release — click here..

Take home

Proposed amendments to the Patents Act include:

Clarification of the prior use defense to infringement;

Adding compulsory licenses of patents as a remedy under the Trade Practices Act;

Adding the possibility of exemplary damages in patent infringement cases (this is similar to the situation in the USA where treble damages may be awarded for willful);

Adding a bolar provision (a defense to infringement of pharmaceutical patents for activities directed to obtaining regulatory approval);

Proposed amendments to the Trade Marks Act include:

Power for the Trade Marks Commissioner to revoke trade marks in certain circumstances;

Making more documents relating to Trade Mark applications publicly available;

Other amendments include:

Clarification of the effect of various aspects of the Plant Breeders Rights system in Australia.

Various minor technical changes to the Acts.