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ARTICLE · 11 DECEMBER 2009

Intellectual Property: Changes in the Australian Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Patent Landscape

Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers
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In some areas, the Australian patent landscape is becoming as unpredictable as our weather patterns. Careful crafting of patent claims will be required to ensure that the pitfalls we are aware of, and potentially those yet to become apparent, are avoided.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Grant Shoebridge
Grant Shoebridge
Jacinta Flattery-O'Brien(Formerly With Shelston IP)
Jacinta Flattery-O'Brien(Formerly With Shelston IP)
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The Australian pharmaceutical/biotechnology patent landscape is currently in a state of flux. Successfully navigating the terrain will be challenging as the sands shift on a number of fronts including:

  • extension of term provisions for pharmaceutical patents – contraction and expansion in different directions;
  • proposed legislative reform to align Australian patentability standards with those of other major jurisdictions; and
  • a Senate Inquiry into the patentability of genes that could separate Australia from other major countries by more than its geography.

(a) Extension of patent term provisions – contracting to bypass enantiomers and expanding in the direction of devices?

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