Australia's war on business method patents: Advice for concerned patentees

As recently noted, the High Court has declined to change the direction of the debate over patentability of computer implemented technologies in Australia. Accordingly, for the foreseeable future, the Australian case law situation will remain focussed upon the Full Federal Court's decision in RPL.

This will ensure the perpetuation of the recently introduced arbitrariness in assessing the patentability of truly unique and valuable computer-implemented advancements which, up until the changes, were clearly patentable. It also creates serious challenges for businesses whose patenting prospects are now, more than ever, at the mercy of Australian Patent Examiners (a topic on which we shall provide additional commentary in due course). There are also many businesses with issued Australian patents who wonder what the RPL decision means for them.