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ARTICLE · 13 FEBRUARY 2017

Best Patent Cases 2016 Australia

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Welcome to Shelston IP's round-up of the best and most significant patent cases from Australia delivered during 2016.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Duncan Longstaff
Duncan Longstaff
Katrina Crooks
Katrina Crooks
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It was a busy year for Australian patent jurisprudence. Here we report on 11 decisions delivered by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, 7 significant decisions delivered by single judges of the Federal Court of Australia and 2 significant decisions of the Australian Patent Office. As always, there are many examples of issues arising in claim construction, novelty, inventive step, innovative step, fair basis, priority dates and infringement. Less typical issues which received significant attention included the requirements to qualify as an exclusive licensee with standing to sue, patentees' obligations to sufficiently describe their inventions including the best method known at filing, applications to re-open validity proceedings based on allegedly deficient discovery and estoppels relating to withdrawal of admissions.

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