Search Databases IP mailing lists

Archived news - 2002

New Service - Reminder to Renew Notices

150,000 Design Registrations

Christmas Holiday Close Down

WIPO Seminars on Trade Mark issues

New scheduled system maintenance windows

AU Published Patent Data Searching

New Statutory Fees come into effect 1 September 2002

IP Research Institute Operational

"We've Got Your Logo" Trade Marks Campaign

IP Australia Presentation to the Institition of Information Management

Change of Process for Designs Renewal Payments

Customer Service Charter Review

Time period reviews

Grace period in effect from 1 April 2002

The Australian Designs Office Examination Manual

APEC Symposium on Traditional Knowledge

IP Toolbox Released

Latest from IP Australia's New Patent Solution (NPS) Project

Patents Amendment Regulations

New Service - Reminder to Renew Notices
18 December 2002

IP Australia is introducing a new service for customers involved with the payment of patent renewal fees.

IP Australia will issue 'Reminder to Renew' (RTR) notices to each customer who has the responsibility for paying patent renewal fees. RTR notices will contain the renewal details for all of a customer's patents on which renewal fees are due for a particular calendar month or quarter. The RTR will include the actual fees required for each renewal listed. RTR notices will be issued two months before the due date of the first renewal on the RTR notice.

RTR notices will help to reduce the frequency of incorrect payments, reducing the amount of extra work undertaken by both IP Australia and our customers to correct payments.

IP Australia plans to introduce this new service starting about the middle of 2003. However in order to test the system before full implementation we will be undertaking some limited sending of RTR notices from February.

To see more information on reminder to renew notices see our official notices page.

150,000 Design Registrations!
5 December 2002

Today at IP Australia, the Federal Government agency responsible for the administration of patents, trade marks and designs, Mr Rex Pepper of Wamboin, NSW will be presented with the certificate of registration for the 150,000th registered Australian design.

Australian design has come a long way since the first registered Australian design was issued on 10 January 1907 to Mr Albert Holdsworth for his combination overall garment. Now almost 96 years later, Mr Pepper is proud that his design is being marked by this event.

An architect, professional designer and DIY specialist, Mr Pepper says "I have been inventing and building things for myself all my life". He comes from a musical family with his four daughters playing a total of 9 instruments and his registered Australian design number 150,000, for a musical instrument case, was inspired by observation of his musical children.

He noted that "Although children who enjoy making music are usually very expressive, the cases they carry their instruments in are often dull and stereotyped. This applies especially to classical instrument cases which, though lovely things themselves, have not changed in hundreds of years".

He observed that "Musical children and young adults in particular, have the opportunity to express their choice with things like clothing and accessories but cannot find similar freedom in the thing they enjoy most - music".

He set about finding a solution to this problem and, after months of hard work, Australian registered design number 150,000 was created in Mr Pepper's workshop in Wamboin.

Mr Pepper's instrument cases are lightweight whilst offering maximum protection for the precious musical instruments they contain. They are made of carbon fibre and Kevlar and can be produced in any colour. The instrument cases offer musicians variety, choice and "Above all," Mr Pepper says "they are attractive and are something nice to be seen with".

Registrar of Designs, Ms Janet Werner of IP Australia said "It's a special day for the organisation as it does represent a significant milestone. Registered designs represent an important part of the way Australians protect their innovation".

"Design registration protects the appearance or look of manufactured articles. Providing the design gives a new or original appearance, that is it has a special shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation, then it can be registered. Mr Pepper's musical instrument case is an innovative example of a design registration".

"Often small business people overlook the important step of protecting their creativity. Whether a registered design, trade mark or patent is the most appropriate option, protecting intellectual property is a critical step most successful organisations have taken".

Mr Pepper's design will be thoroughly road tested by his four daughters before he intends to focus on marketing his range of musical instrument cases around Australia. It certainly will be music to the ears of people tired of their existing cases.

Contact: For more information regarding this press release, please contact Ms Janet Werner, IP Australia on (02) 6283 2002.

Christmas Holiday Close Down
5 December 2002

IP Australia 's new Certified Agreement provides for a Christmas Close down period between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. This means that the majority of IP Australia's staff will be on leave for the period 25 December 2002 until 1 January 2003 inclusive.

In order to provide essential services to our clients on the days of 30 and 31 December, a skeleton staff will be on duty. State Offices will remain open during this period. To assist us to deal with urgent matters, customers are requested to send all non-urgent work outside of the Christmas close down period.

WIPO Seminars on Trade Mark issues
7 October 2002

The following seminars on Trade Mark issues are being held in Geneva during November 2002.

• Seminar on the Madrid System of International Registration of Marks, 20-21 November.
• Seminar on the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement and its use within the Madrid System, 22 November.

Details of these seminars can be obtained from the following web address. http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/

New scheduled system maintenance windows
17 September 2002

IP Australia has reviewed its times for scheduled maintenance on IP Australia's computer systems, and advises that maintenance and system upgrade work will occur on

Wednesday from 7 pm to 10.30 pm

Saturday from 12 noon to 9 pm.

All maintenance windows are based in Australia Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings Time. Where system maintenance is required outside of those windows, IP Australia will inform its customers as far in advance as is possible through Downtime Notices posted on the Internet, on our "Whats New" page. Customers may also subscribe to an e-mail notification service to be notified about unscheduled downtimes. Please contact assist@ipaustralia.gov.au to subscribe.

AU Published Patent Data Searching
5 September 2002

Australian Patent Abstracts (APA) on CD-ROM is a useful product for searching published Australian patent data. Until now, APA on CD-ROM has only been available in IP Australia's State Offices and on subscription. Now, however, the data on APA on CD-ROM is available on IP Australia's web site as 'AU Published Patent Data Searching' at http://apa.hpa.com.au:8080/ipapa/intro. 'AU Published Patent Data Searching' is also available in IP Australia's State Offices.

'AU Published Patent Data Searching' has the full data collection of APA on CD-ROM including the 1920-74 Classification Data CD. It allows searching on the published bibliographic data fields such as applicant name, IPC marks, inventor name, etc and displays an image of the patent abstract for review. The patent abstract links to the full patent specification at 'AU-A, B, C Patent Specifications' on IP Australia's web site, if the specification is available in electronic form. AU desiganted PCT applications are linked to the Esp@cenet web site for retrieval of the equivalent WO patent specification. Earlier full patent specifications that are not available in electronic form can be viewed in IP Australia's State Offices or requested from IP Australia. 'AU Published Patent Data Searching' will be updated each week from the Weekly Update APA CD.

Because the data on 'AU Published Patent Data Searching' is the same as that on APA on CD-ROM, it does not contain innovation patent data or publication of patent applications filed since 5 July 2002 into IP Australia's New Patent Solution System.

If you have any questions about 'AU Published Patent Data Searching', please contact Bill Major on (02) 6283 2496 or email bill.major@ipaustralia.gov.au.

New Statutory Fees come into effect 1 September 2002
29 August 2002

Changes to IP Australia's statutory fees under the Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Act will come into effect on Sunday 1 September 2002. The proposed fees:

• Accommodate an electronic business environment;
• Provide some simplification and consistency of the fee schedules;
• Continue to implement a 'a whole of life' cost recovery fee structure while realigning some costs with fees to ensure that IP Australia continues to provide high quality products and services; and
• Maintain the on-going viability of IP Australia while keeping the prices of services internationally comparable.

More information about the fee changes can be found on the IP Australia website under the official notices, or by contacting our Customer Support Centre on (02) 6283 2999 from 9am to 5pm AEST, or to your nearest State Office on 1300 65 10 10.

IP Research Institute Operational
26 July 2002

The Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia (IPRIA) has commenced operation at the University of Melbourne. IPRIA has been established with IP Australia seed-funding as part of the Federal Government's Backing Australia Ability initiative. It is undertaking high quality research to improve policy advice to Australian governments, to improve the use of IP by Australian organisations and to improve the debate about IP issues in the Australian community.

Melbourne University brings together its Faculty of Law, the Melbourne Business School and the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research to undertake the interdisciplinary research involving economic, management, legal and technical aspects of IP and its use. IPRIA will also collaborate extensively with other researchers and institutions in Australia and overseas.

Examples of its research projects include:

• The market for IP - Australia compared with the US and UK.
• Factors in successful collaboration for the creation and commercialisation of IP.
• The economics of marketing symbols.
• A comparative analysis of examination of applications for patents for biotechnology inventions.
• International developments and law reform.
• Licensing strategies for public scientific research.

Renowned Australian IP expert, Andrew Christie, is its founding Director.

Further details about the Institute can be found at www.ipria.org.

"We've Got Your Logo" Trade Marks Campaign
23 July 2002

"You may be surprised to one day find someone using your logo or a logo you have created for your client. Think carefully when developing a new brand or logo. There are more things to consider than whether or not a brand or logo captures the values of the product or service and communicates the key selling message to the target market. Brands and logos serve a functional purpose, that of identifying and distinguishing one product or service from another."

IP Australia this week launches the "We've Got Your Logo" campaign, targeting the advertising industry, marketing professionals and graphic designers. It aims to promote the benefits of the registration of trade marks.

The campaign includes a mail out, supporting advertising and editorial and a targeted Internet site.

IP Australia Presentation to the Institition of Information Management
1 July 2002

Change of Process for Designs Renewal Payments
17 June 2002

For many years, the practice of the Registrar of Designs with regard to 2nd and 3rd renewal fee payments, has been to only extend a registered design after the expiration of the current in-force-to date, and not before. This practice ensured that the term of a registered design was only extended to the next relevant period, and no further. Any renewal fee payments for subsequent periods were recorded in the Designs Office system and only processed after the elapsing of the pertinent in-force-to date.

This practice has now been changed. Where all three (1st, 2nd & 3rd) renewal fees are paid during the first renewal period they will all be processed following the expiration of the first renewal period, not before. Where 2nd and/or 3rd renewals are paid after the 1st renewal extension has been processed the 2nd and/or 3rd renewals will now be processed immediately following payment.

As a consequence of the changed practice, refund of renewal fees will not be available once the fee has been processed and the term of the registered design extended.

Registered owners and practitioners will, over the next week or so, receive renewal notifications as a result of the processing of pending 2nd and/or 3rd renewal fees that have been paid but not previously processed.

Inquiries concerning this change of practice can be directed to the Deputy Registrar of Designs, Victor Portelli by phone (02) 6283 2093 or e-mail victor.portelli@ipaustralia.gov.au

Customer Service Charter Review
17 May 2002

We are currently in the process of reviewing the service standards that we have guaranteed our customers. We want to be a customer focussed organisation where we meet our customers needs and exceed their expectations.

To assist us in this process we are interested in getting input from our customer and stakeholder groups on service standards that we provide. We are seeking your views in a range of ways from focus groups through to interviews and surveys. If you would like to be involved read on - alternatively contact our Customer Charter Manager, Colleen Page, on telephone (02) 6283 2394 or on email at assist@ipaustralia.gov.au.

We have a Customer Service Charter which sets out the quality and level of service that customers can expect in their interactions with us.

It is very important to us that our service standards are relevant and useful to our customers and stakeholders.

Your views on what is and isn't important will help us.

If you would like to participate in the development of the new service standards for IP Australia or would like to provide any comments on your service experience with us please provide us with your ideas on the following:

What does good service mean to you?

What standards of service are important to you when dealing with us?

Should our service standards be guarantees or aims?

How can the current Customer Service Charter be improved?

Is the language easy to understand?

Is there enough/too much information included in the Charter?

Is there any information that we have now that should be excluded?

Time period reviews
24 April 2002

Comments and feedback are welcomed and should be sent by 10 May 2002 to:

Ms Kerry Sillcock
Development and Legislation Section
PO Box 200
WODEN ACT 2606
or by e-mail to Kerry.Sillcock@ipaustralia.gov.au.

For further information, please contact Mr Albin Smrdel on (02) 6283 2097 or at Albin.Smrdel@ipaustralia.gov.au.

Grace period in effect from 1 April 2002
28 March 2002

The introduction of a grace period was announced in the Prime Minister's launch of Backing Australia's Ability: An Innovation Action Plan for the Future in January last year. Grace periods already apply in 38 countries including the US, Japan and Canada. As of 1 April 2002, a grace period will also apply in Australia.

The Government will review the grace period 2 years after its commencement to ensure that it is meeting its objective.

What is a grace period?
With the introduction of this change, an invention can be made public (under certain conditions) and this will not prevent a valid patent from being granted. This is to cover those circumstances where the inventor has disclosed their invention before applying for a patent, for example when they have discussed it with a contractor without a confidentiality agreement.
Prior to the introduction of the grace period, an invention had to be kept secret before an application for a patent was made. If the inventor showed the invention to another party, a later patent was invalid unless the disclosure was covered by a confidentiality agreement. The introduction of the grace period allows for public disclosure of an invention without affecting the validity of a subsequent patent application (provided that a complete application is filed within 12 months of the disclosure).

The grace period covers disclosures of an invention made by or with the consent of the nominated person or patentee.

The grace period may help a patent application succeed in cases where disclosure of an invention has been made by mistake or is ill timed. However, a grace period should not be used as a general strategy for publishing an invention before filing a patent application. The lack of a uniform grace period or grace period requirements around the world could mean patent applications that rely on grace period disclosures may be invalid in other countries. In addition, third parties who use an invention in the grace period and before a patent application is made will retain their rights to use the invention.

How does the grace period work?
The grace period covers a period of no more than 12 months before the filing date of the complete application. The grace period will not provide an applicant with an earlier priority date.

The grace period will have no retrospective effect - it will only apply in relation to disclosures that are made on or after 1 April 2002, even if an application is made after 1 April.

The pros and cons of grace periods.
The arguments for grace periods include:

• Inventors would not lose their rights through accidental disclosure. Indeed, many do not realise they have an invention worth protecting until they see others' interest in it.
• Academics may be able to share research results at seminars or conferences, through journals or on the internet without having to waive any prospect of patent rights.
• Inventors could engage in field trials, prototyping and negotiating with potential distributors or customers without the need for every relationship to be covered by cumbersome confidentiality agreements. Presently the only alternative is to secure an early patent filing date before disclosing to third parties, but often it is better to do more development work on the invention before lodging a patent application.
• All of the above benefits would increase access to and use of the patent system, and result in increased levels of innovation.

In spite of these 'pros' it is nevertheless incumbent on the applicant to ensure they file their application as soon as possible.

The arguments against grace periods include:

• The present system is clear and simple. Introduction of grace periods may mislead inventors into thinking that they are safe to disclose their inventions in all circumstances, or confuse inventors as to when their grace period 'clock' started ticking.
• Inventors wishing to file patents abroad may be caught out in those countries which do not recognise grace periods or have a different grace period. In other words, a disclosure allowed under the grace period that wouldn't affect the validity of an Australian patent would in all likelihood invalidate a patent in Europe.
• The 18 month interval between filing and publication of a patent application already makes life uncertain for innovators as they wait to see which of their competitors' products are going to be covered by patents. By adding a grace period to the publication period the length of the interval of doubt is increased.
• A grace period system may encourage people to delay filing patents and securing priority dates. However, the grace period only protects a patent application from the applicant's own prior disclosures. Any delay in filing the application will increase the risk that intervening disclosures by third parties (eg: a competitor) will invalidate or reduce the scope of patent applications.

For more information, visit www.ipaustralia.gov.au or contact Janet Werner on  (02) 6283 2348 or jwerner@ipaustralia.gov.au.

The Australian Designs Office Examination Manual
4 March 2002

APEC Symposium on Traditional Knowledge
13 February 2002

Traditional knowledge,folklore and the sharing of genetic resources have been discussed both at the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization. How these topics affect he traditionally accepted notions of intellectual property (trade marks, patents, etc.) could have a profound impact of the scope of such rights. They may have a big impact on the further development of new industries.

One such industry is traditional medicine which has already experienced impressive market growth in countries like Germany and the United States. Hong Kong, China, which seeks to become a regional hub for the development of traditional Chinese medicine, feels that the time is right for traditional medicine to be discussed at an international level.

Hong Kong, China will host a Symposium on Traditional Medicine in 2002 (19, 20 and 22 March). Days 1 and 2 (19 and 20 March 2002) will provide an introduction to the topic of Traditional Medicine from a sociological, commercial and research perspective. Day 3 will focus on the intellectual property aspects of Traditional Medicine.

IP Toolbox Released
21 January 2002

Many businesses unknowingly possess intellectual property (IP). IP Toolbox is a working tool to help you understand and maximise profit from your IP and ultimately to add value to your business.

Starting with information on how IP relates to business and the forms of IP protection available, the product also covers issues such as the process of identifying your business' IP, creating a business plan (and integrating IP into your business plan) and how taxation relates to your business' IP.

To learn more about IP Toolbox, click here.

Latest from IP Australia's New Patent Solution (NPS) Project
18 January 2002

IP Australia is in the process of implementing its new patent business model and supporting systems to move to electronic filing and processing of patent applications through the NPS project.

For further information about the NPS project, please contact Ray Hallett by calling +61 2 6283 2186 or via email ray.hallett@ipaustralia.gov.au

Our Online Services Section features the latest developments including online filing for innovation patents. To view the Online Services Section, click here.

Patents Amendment Regulations
03 January 2002

The Patents Amendment Regulations come into effect today. From 1 January 2002 the Regulations will reduce the total maximum number of PCT designations after which no further payment is necessary. These will be reduced from 6 to 5 designations and therefore reduce the maximum designation fee that an applicant must pay if they designate more than 5 countries. The amending regulations also make some minor amendments to the patent attorney offence provisions, which will commence on appearance in the gazette.

back to top

© Commonwealth of Australia, 2008
Site Map | Contact Us | Give us your feedback | Customer Service Charter
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | About this Site | IP Media Centre