Wednesday 23 October 2013

Single Trans-Tasman patent approved

Earlier today Commerce Minister Craig Foss, on behalf of the New Zealand government, announced his government's approval
" ... to implement a single application process and single examination process for New Zealand and Australian patent applications.

The single trans-Tasman application and examination processes for patents, along with the passing of the Patents Bill, are part of the Government’s Business Growth Agenda initiatives to encourage and support innovative industries".
Further details are available here.

The Single Patent Examination Factsheet, here, and the information available from Australia, here, give no clue regarding challenges to a patent's validity, rather giving the impression that each jurisdiction will continue its own revocation proceedings. PatLit thinks that there may be some interesting issues arising in terms of, for example, the precedental value of the decision of the first court to rule on a jointly-examined and granted patent the validity of which is separately challenged in the two jurisdictions.

Thanks go to Chris Torrero for spotting this item.

1 comment:

Wayne Condon said...

You are correct that revocation proceedings will have to be commenced in each country notwithstanding the Trans-Tasman examination of the patent granted in each country. Because the grounds of revocation available are different in each country and because the judicial approach to concepts such as novelty and obviousness is subtly different as between the jurisdictions it is quite conceivable that a different result in relation to revocation could be reached in each country notwithstanding the examination of the patent in suit under the Trans-Tasman procedure.