Australia has joined the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks and the Patent Law Treaty and has signed a new Agreement to continue its role as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) until 2017. See here for more.
Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, has announced a new Chair and four new appointments to the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP).
“ACIP provides an important advisory service to the Government and undertakes independent reviews of key intellectual property issues.”
The new council chair is Mr Leon Allen and the four new council members are: Associate Professor Elizabeth Webster, Mr Adam Liberman, Dr Tracie Ramsdale, and Dr Noel Chambers.
IP Australia will be closed from 25 December 2008 to 1 January 2009 (inclusive).
The Intellectual Property Office of NZ will be closed from 25 December 2008 to 2 January 2009 (inclusive).
Any deadlines occurring on those dates will be accepted on the next business day.
Justice Virginia Margaret Bell (currently of the NSW Supreme Court) has been named as a Justice of the High Court of Australia, with effect from 3 February 2009. She will be the 48th person, and the fourth woman (and the third on the current court), appointed to the High Court since federation in 1901. She will replace Justice Michael Kirby.
Last Friday the High Court refused to grant special leave to appeal from the Full Federal Court decision in Austal Ships Sales Pty Ltd v Stena Rederi Aktiebolag [2008] FCAFC 121, previously discussed here. The transcript of the special leave hearing can be found here.
G.D. Searle LLC applied for an extension of term based on the substance darunavir. Another substance (known as amprenavir), which was within the scope of the claims of the Seale’s patent, had an earlier inclusion in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). The Delegate held that Searle’s application did not comply with section 71 of the Patents Act as the application was not made within six months of the date of the earliest first inclusion in the ARTG. The goods containing darunavir were included in the ARTG six years after those containing amprenavir.
In reaching his decision Delegate Barker sought guidance from Justice Bennett’s decision in Pfizer Corp v Commissioner of Patents [2006] FCA 1176 in the context of section 77 (the section that calculates the extension term). At [34] Bennett J stated:
Having regard to Bennett J’s comments, Delegate Barker held that section 71 must mean that an application for extension of term is to be made within six months of the earliest first inclusion in the ARTG. While this decision seems harsh, particularly as the amprenavir product had been sponsored by a competitor and thus Searle would not gain the full effective patent life of its own product, it is clear that the Commissioner will adopt a hard line with applications for extensions of term. First inclusion in the ARTG means exactly that –the date of first inclusion of any pharmaceutical substance; regardless of the identity of the sponsor.
Delegate Barker also made the following comments concerning the extension of term provisions:
The Australian Federal Police yesterday arrested two men in Brisbane for illegally distributing movies and television programs via an offshore website.
They were charged with copyright and proceeds of crime offences.
IP Australia has released an Options Paper that considers the penalties for trade mark counterfeiting. Comments are invited by 27 February 2009.
You are visitor number
IP Now - Australia & New Zealand Intellectual Property Law is proudly powered by
WordPress
Entries (RSS)
and Comments (RSS).