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ARTICLE · 20 SEPTEMBER 2006

New Bill To Amend Australian IP Laws

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The Australian Parliament has recently introduced the Intellectual Property Laws Amendments Bill 2006 to amend and revise Australian IP laws. The major changes are in the areas of patents and trade marks.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Peter Treloar
Peter Treloar
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The Australian Parliament has recently introduced the Intellectual Property Laws Amendments Bill 2006 to amend and revise Australian IP laws. The major changes are in the areas of patents and trade marks. These changes are discussed separately below.

Patent Act

The Amendments to the Patents Act deal with the areas of:

The Introduction of Exemplary Damages for Wilful Infringement

The proposal is to introduce the opportunity for the patentee to extract exemplary damages for flagrant infringement of patents. The court can take into account the conduct of the infringer, including any notice they may have had, in determining the level of damages awarded.

Modification Of The Secret Prior Use Provisions

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