Uncertainty about whether Advancement Patents Bill will Survive First Reading
On 16th May 2018 the first reading of the Patents (Advancement Patents) Amendment Bill was initiated, but only 2 of the scheduled 11 speeches were made before progress of the Bill was interrupted. The Members Bill, which is sponsored by an opposition party member, has subsequently slipped down the Order Paper...
Synergy of Combinations can be Obvious if Discovered by Routine Steps
In the recent Hearings Office decision Syngenta Crop Protection AG v Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH the Delegate held that claims to a synergistically effective active compound combination to be obvious as the person skilled in the art would find the synergistic effect through routine trials...
Judge Holds that Assessment of Ownership can be Affected by Events Subsequent to Filing Date
In SC Johnson & Son Ltd v International Consolidated Business Pty Ltd the High Court Judge quashed an Assistant Commissioner’s decision and ordered a rehearing before the Assistant Commissioner on the issue of ownership...
Disclosure Grace Period Held to Cover Post-Filing ‘Whole of Contents’ Disclosures
In Rozenberg & Co Pty Ltd v Velin-Pharma A/S the Delegate held that a post-filing publication of the same applicant can be covered by the grace period provisions, and so could be disregarded for novelty and inventive step purposes as a ‘whole of contents’ prior art base document...