On 25 July 2019, the Australian Government introduced a bill to make a number of changes to the patents system. The changes to Crown use of patents and designs and to compulsory licences will be of interest to some. But the biggest change is phasing out innovation patents, Australia’s equivalent to a second-tier patent or utility model.

Innovation patents have a lower requirement for inventiveness than standard patents, are granted without substantive examination, and have an 8-year term. This is ideal for incremental improvements which may not justify the expense of a standard patent, but still benefit from a level of protection.

This will align Australia with jurisdictions like the United States and New Zealand which do not have a second-tier patent.

The proposed law will prevent new innovation patent applications being filed. It will not affect existing innovation patents.

This follows the Australian Productivity Commission’s report in 2016 that recommended abolishing innovation patents. Their reasoning is that the innovation patent system probably does not benefit Australian SMEs.

It is not clear when (or if) the bill will be enacted. However, there is no indication that this will be a contentious bill, and it may well pass through both houses relatively quickly.

Once the law comes into force, there will be an 18-month transition period in which new innovation patents can be filed. After that, no new applications will be allowed. With the 8-year term of innovation patents, this means that the final innovation patent, and so the innovation patent system as a whole, will likely reach the end of its life in 2028.