17 April 2012: The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 has passed into law with the Governor General’s assent on Sunday 15 April 2012. A key feature of the reforms allows for researchers to conduct genuine scientific inquiry without worrying about patent infringement. This includes work on improving a patented invention (but does not include commercialisation until the patent expires or lapses).
To provide clarity for researchers, an inclusive list of activities that are deemed to be experimental has been included in section 119C of the Patents Act 1990. The following activities are exempt:
- determining the properties of the invention
- determining the scope of a patent claim relating to the invention
- improving or modifying the invention
- determining the validity of the patent or of a patent claim relating to the invention
- determining whether the patent for the invention would be, or has been, infringed by the doing of an act.
Full story here.