Ten years after its introduction, Australia's unique
innovation patent system is under review. On 17 August, the
Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP)
published an issues paper, "Review of the
Innovation Patent System". The closing date for
submissions is 14 October 2011.
What is an innovation patent?
Innovation patents provide a means of patent protection for a
maximum term of eight years (compared to a maximum term of 20 years
for standard patents other than standard pharmaceutical patents)
for inventions that do not meet the inventive threshold necessary
for a standard patent.
As the Issues Paper states:
"The objective of the innovation patent system is to
stimulate innovation in Australian small to medium business
enterprises (SMEs) by providing IP rights for
lower level inventions. The innovation patent system requires a
lower degree of inventiveness (innovative step) than a standard
patent so as to provide protection for lower
