Australia: Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act
April 15, 2013
Australia: The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act was enacted on April 15, 2012, and came into force in its entirety on April 15, 2013. This Act includes the amendments to the Copyright Act 1968, the Patents Act 1990, the Trade Marks Act 1995, the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994, and the Designs Act 2003.
The amendments address six key areas: raising the quality of granted patents, free access to patented inventions for regulatory approvals and research, reducing delays in resolution of patent and trade mark applications, assisting the operations of the IP profession, improving mechanisms for trade mark and copyright enforcement, and simplifying the IP system.