Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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PATENTS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2004 (NO. 1) 2004 NO. 23

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

STATUTORY RULES 2004 NO. 23

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources

Patents Act 1990

Patents Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 1)

Subsection 228(1) of the Patents Act 1990 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act and for the conduct of any business relating to the Patent Office.

Schedule 1 to the Act defines a Convention country as a foreign country declared by the regulations to be a Convention country for the purposes of the Act.

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property provides right of priority for nationals or residents of member countries to claim the date they first filed an application for a patent for an invention in a Convention country, as the date of filing of applications for a patents for the invention in other Convention countries. To obtain priority in another Convention country, the application must be filed in that country within 12 months of the filing date in the first country. One of the advantages of the right of priority is that when an applicant desires protection in more than one country, the applications are not required to be filed at the same time. The applicant has 12 months to decide the countries in which they wish to file applications and take any appropriate steps to gain protection. As Australia is a member of the Paris Convention, this right also applies to Australian nationals filing applications overseas.

The Regulations amend Schedule 4 to the Patents Regulations 1991 to include Saudi Arabia in the list of Convention countries to which the right of priority applies. This reflects the fact that Saudi Arabia has acceded to the Paris Convention, with effect from 11 March 2004.

The Regulations commence on 11 March 2004.


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