The type of inventions that can be patented in the future is the focus of a new report by the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property.

 

The Advisory Council is an independent body that undertakes important reviews of key aspects of the IP system, including patents, trade marks and designs.

 

Key recommendations of the report include:

  • codifying the established principles of patentability – so that an invention must be an artificially created state of affairs in the field of economic endeavour
  • maintaining the current exclusion from patentability of human beings and biological processes for their generation – but not introducing any further specific exclusions
  • introducing a general exclusion from patentability of inventions whose commercial exploitation would be wholly offensive to the Australian public.

The report also recommends including a statement of objectives in the Patents Act  1990 to outline its purpose, and changes to assist the Commissioner of Patents when applying the test for patentability.

 

A copy of the report is available at www.acip.gov.au