Patent reform bill passes Senate

Australia’s patent laws are facing their most significant revision in over two decades after the Raising the Bar bill passed the Senate during a sitting last night.

Following a debate on the current revision of the bill, it was passed by the Senate and passed over for reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill recommends several key revisions to the existing patent laws as established in the Patents Act 1990, including a research exemption that allows scientists to use intellectual property protected by patents for continued research.

Coalition Senators spoke in support of the bill, although they suggested it serve as a foundation for further reforms to intellectual property laws in the future.

Senator Bill Heffernan, who also co-introduced a bill to ban gene patents, also spoke in support of the current bill, although he stressed his concern over the distinction between discovery and invention.

“The problem we have in the patent world – and Australia is a soft entry point for patents globally – is that we have included in the patents, which have now been challenged in Australian and American courts, the discoverable material,” he said.

Senator Nick Xenophon, who has also agitated against gene patents, also gave reserved support for the bill.

“This piece of legislation is not unwelcome,” he said. “But I believe it ought to have gone much further. I would like to think that this is the beginning of further reforms.”

The bill was introduced to the Senate on 22 June last year, and raises the threshold to be granted a patent as well as offers a research exemption and updates other elements of the patent system.

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Defence Materiel, stressed that the bill will significantly improve patent law in Australia in a number of ways.

“This bill when enacted will speed up the process of resolving patent and trademark applications,” he said. “It will provide applications and the public with much better opportunities to ensure that they have the protections of patent law.

“The law helps IP professionals to assist those who seek to take advantage of the patent system. It makes it easier for them to secure a patent, but not for trivial things.

“It provides a much stronger quality of advice by making it easier to ensure that we can secure the necessary legal protections for people. It protects people from imitations and fakes. It provides better border protection systems and stronger sanctions against counterfeits.

“Finally, the bill simplifies the more technical aspects of the current IP system so that innovators can spend less time prosecuting applications and more time innovating.

“That is why the bill is so named: raising the bar. It raises the quality of the innovation system to raise the quality of innovation and to benefit all Australians. That is why I argue we ought to support this bill and we ought to give it rapid passage.”

AusBiotech, which has supported the patent amendments, particularly the research amendment while maintaining strong protection for intellectual property, welcomed the passing the bill through the Senate.

“More than two years of consultation and deliberation that has resulted in the passing of the ‘Raising the Bar’ bill, will strengthen Australia’s IP management system,” said Dr Anna Lavelle, CEO of AusBiotech.

“The bill answers the stated community and concerns over patient and research access, while ensuring a patent system that will encourage development of new biotechnologies.

“We believe there is no downside to the Bill and members of Parliament ought to feel confident supporting legislation that is guaranteed to make an improvement.”

The bill will now be read in the House of Representatives.