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IP specialists warn of ‘serious disadvantage’ to SMEs
The government’s plan to abolish the innovation patent system has been discouraged by an industry body, which has claimed that it would be detrimental to Australian SMEs.
Emma Musgrave
The professional body representing Australian patent and trade mark attorneys, the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA), has urged the government not to abolish the innovation patent system, saying it will “seriously disadvantage Australian SMEs attracting finance to commercialise their innovations by removing the simplest and lowest cost means of protecting their intellectual property”.
The call from the body comes after the government announced its intention to abolish Australia’s Innovation Patent System (IPS) at the earliest convenience and introduce into Parliament the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill.
In explaining its decision, the government noted that it “will continue to explore more direct mechanisms to better assist SMEs to understand and leverage their IP, secure and utilise intellectual property rights and access affordable enforcement”.
However, the IPTA refuted the government’s claims, noting that these comments are “nonsensical because the government clearly fails to understand that in the absence of the IPS, SMEs will be unable to obtain certain IP rights and therefore no utilisation or enforcement will be possible”.
Also commenting on the impending abolishment, Owen Hill, managing director of Earthsafe Australia Pty Ltd, said: “Many Australian innovators fear that the abolition of the IPS will be detrimental to their businesses.”
“The IPS provides SMEs the opportunity to protect a new concept or idea within a very short time frame as well as providing a strong basis for licencing and/or joint venture negotiations for innovation,” he added.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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