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NEWS
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Removal of Australian Duty of Disclosure Requirements
Andrew Lowe and Caroline Bommer October 2007
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The Australian Patents Regulations were amended on 22 October 2007 to remove the obligation to provide foreign search results to IP Australia (the Australian Patent Office).
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Under the transitional provisions, if the application was advertised as accepted after 22 July 2007, there is no requirement for foreign search results to be submitted. However, if the application was advertised as accepted before 22 July 2007, it is still necessary to submit search results, but only if those search results would have been considered to be overdue, under the old regulations, as at 22 October 2007. This applies even if the application has since proceeded to grant.
We will confirm any specific requirements on a case-by-case basis, in light of this change to Australian practice.
While there is no longer any mandatory requirement to submit foreign search results, it is still possible voluntarily to submit any particular prior art to IP Australia for consideration during examination.
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for further information contact andrewlowe@ShelstonIP.com
or carolinebommer@ShelstonIP.com
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