Promoting innovation
The patent system has an economic role to play in society. It
encourages investment, economic growth, knowledge sharing and the
efficient use of resources, as well as encouraging the provision of
new and improved goods and services that satisfy social needs.
Recognising an inventor's time, effort and ingenuity, the
grant of a patent provides a time-limited monopoly over the claimed
invention. Without such an incentive, investors may be reluctant to
invest, resulting in greater calls on government funding or a
failure to develop and exploit new technology.
In providing this monopoly incentive, the patent system must
ensure that patent protection is not given to anything that a
person with ordinary skill could deduce as an obvious consequence
of what is already known to the public.
