The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act has passed into law with the Governor General’s assent on 15 April 2012. Most provisions in the Act come into effect on 15 April 2013. The purpose of the reforms is to improve the legislation that covers IP rights. The list of the changes in the act, some of them, are given here for the readers:
- Changes to patentability standards for patents
- Changes to patent examination
- Reduced time frames for prosecuting patent applications
- Searches and search fees for patents applications
- Statement of Entitlement for patents
- Patents applications will no longer be ‘sealed’
- Trade mark examination
- Removing the concept of ‘service’ for oppositions
- Trade mark oppositions
- Patent opposition
- Incorporation & serious offence notifications
Some of the above amendments proposed seek to expedite the IP process in Australia patent office.
The author is a patent professional from MR Technollect, an IP Consulting firm, New Delhi.
Visit us at http://www.mrtechnollect.com for any IP related query.