Article
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7 Jun 2012
Australia Moves to “Raise the Bar” on Patentability
Executive summary
The Australian Patents Act 1990 has recently been amended. The amendments have the effect of increasing the threshold for inventive step, the standard of disclosure required, and the usefulness of the invention claimed. New provisions exempting infringement for acts done for experimental purposes, or for the purposes of gaining regulatory approval, are already in force. The remainder come into force on 15 April 2013. The new provisions will apply to applications for which a Request for Examination has not been filed prior to the date of their coming into effect. The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 (“the Act”) received Royal Assent on 15 April 2012. The Act contains amendments to all of Australia’s principal IP related legislation, but the purpose of this document is to comment on the amendments to the Patents Act 1990.