This is the latest in a series of articles intended to highlight
some of the major differences between the patent laws of Australia
and New Zealand. Whereas patentees are typically encouraged to view
Australia and New Zealand as a "common market", the
reality is that this impression may not be 100% accurate. As may be
gleaned from previous articles in this series, our two countries
are similar in many respects – socially, politically and
economically. Therefore, it is perhaps a touch incongruous that at
present, our respective patent systems are
"same-same-but-different" in several important
aspects.
In this article, we consider Trans-Tasman differences in respect
of an "extension of term" for pharmaceutical patents. By
"extension of term", we're talking about the same
sort of thing as a Hatch-Waxman extension in the US, or a
Supplementary Protection Certificate in Europe. In short, Australia
offers one, New Zealand (presently) does not.
