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ARTICLE · 01 NOVEMBER 2019

Australian innovation patent, extinct by June 2021

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Despite industry protests, this new act will phase out Australia's second-tier patent system, the innovation patent.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Grant Shoebridge
Grant Shoebridge
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The Intellectual Property Amendment (Productivity Commission Response part 2 and other Measures) Bill 2019 was passed by the Senate on 16 October 2019. This will result in the abolition of Australia's second-tier patent system, the innovation patent.

Many small- and medium-sized Australian businesses and relevant industry groups, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents around 300,000 Australian businesses, expressed strong and well-reasoned support for retaining the innovation patent. These views were seemingly ignored by both the Government and Opposition, whose reasons for phasing out the innovation patent have never been credibly articulated.

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