| Focus: | Exposure draft of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 2014 (Cth) |
| Services: | Intellectual Property & Technology |
| Industry Focus: | Medical & Pharmaceutical |
The deadline for interested parties to provide submissions to IP Australia on the recently released exposure draft of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 2014 (Cth), is fast approaching!
The draft Bill is a revised version of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 2013 (2013 Bill), which was introduced into Parliament in May 2013, but lapsed when the Federal Election was called in August.
The most significant aspects of the draft Bill are to amend the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) in order to:
- enable Australian medicine producers to seek a compulsory, non-exclusive licence from the Federal Court to manufacture and export patented pharmaceuticals to eligible countries experiencing public health emergencies (implementing the Protocol amending the World Trade Organisation's TRIPS Agreement)
- allow for the introduction of a single patent attorney regime and single patent application and examination process for Australia and New Zealand (as part of the Single Economic Market (SEM) agenda).
Amendments to Crown use provisions in the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) which were contained in the 2013 Bill have now been removed, and will be dealt with under a separate consultation and legislative process.
The Bill also extends the jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit Court to matters involving plant breeder's rights, and makes minor administrative changes and technical amendments to other intellectual property legislation.
The deadline for written submissions to be provided to IP Australia is 7 February 2014.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
