Patents

A patent is a monopoly granted by the government for a new invention. The monopoly gives the owner exclusive rights to exploit the invention during the term of the patent. A patent can therefore be used to provide a market edge by preventing competitors using your invention. Alternatively, the patent can be sold or licensed to another party in order to generate revenue

In order to be patentable, an invention must be a "manner  of manufacture" and novel. A manner of manufacture is a general term used to define the type of inventions that are considered to be suitable subject matter for an invention. Generally, functional or technical products or processes may be patentable.  Mere schemes or plans, or discoveries of existing laws of nature are generally not patentable. The term "novel" simply means that the idea must be new. That is, the invention cannot be public knowledge prior to the date a patent application is filed. As public disclosure of your invention may therefore mean it is no longer new, it is important to keep any invention confidential until a patent is filed.

There are two types of patents in Australia, being a 'standard' and an 'innovation' patent. A standard patent can provide protection for up to 20 years and, as well as being novel, must be inventive. That is, it cannot be considered obvious to someone skilled in the field of the invention. An innovation patent can last for up to 8 years and must be considered to include an "innovative step". As the test for innovative step has a lower threshold than that for inventive step, inventions which are not sufficiently inventive for grant of a standard patent may still be patentable as an innovation patent.

Trade Marks

A trade mark is any sign used to distinguish products of one trader from those of another. Company names and product names are generally trade marks, as are logos. It is also possible for colours, sounds and aspects of packaging to function as trade marks.

Registration of Trade Marks provides for easier enforcement of your rights against other parties who may be using your trade mark or a mark which is similar to yours. Registrations provide protection for 10 years and can be renewed for further 10 year periods indefinitely. 

Registered Designs

A registered design is a monopoly granted by the government for a design as applied to a product. The design is the visual appearance of the product as formed by features such as the shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation. A registered design therefore protects the way a product looks, rather than the way it works.

A registered design can provide protection for a period of up to 10 years. To be registered, a design must be both new and distinctive at the date of filing the design application. As with a patent, a design may be considered to be not new if it has been published prior to the filing of a design and it is therefore important to keep any such design confidential. To be 'distinctive', a design cannot be substantially similar in overall impression to a previously published design.