Australia – Innovation Patent

The Australia has a separate Patent protection apart from regular utility Patent termed “Innovation patent”, is a protection option specifically designed to protect inventions that do not meet the inventive threshold required for standard patents. Introduced in 2001 to stimulate innovation among small to medium business and local industry, the innovation patent is a relatively fast way to obtain protection for your new device, substance, method or process.

Innovation patents are intended to provide intellectual property rights for those incremental and lower level inventions that would not be sufficiently inventive to qualify for a standard patent. This is due to the inventive threshold being lowered compared to a standard patent, that is, the innovation patent requires an innovative step rather than an inventive step.

An innovation patent doesn’t allow you to legally stop others from copying your innovation unless you have your innovation patent examined. Examination of an innovation patent will only occur if requested by the patentee, a third party or the commissioner of patents. An innovation patent is only legally enforceable and certified if it has been examined by IP Australia and has met the requirements of the Patents Act.