Note: The information in this part is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice.  Intellectual property, like all areas of law, is complex, varies from country to country and is constantly evolving.  Therefore if you have any legal questions always seek advice from a specialist lawyer or patent attorney.

What is a patent?
A patent is a right granted for any device, substance, method or process, which is new, inventive and useful.

A patent gives the owner a legally enforceable and exclusive right to commercially exploit the invention for the life of the patent.  All applications for patents are examined to ensure they meet the necessary legal and administrative requirements for granting a patent.

Patents give effective protection if you have invented new technology that will lead to a product, composition or process with significant long-term commercial gain.

It is not possible to patent artistic creations, mathematical models, plans, schemes or other purely mental processes.

Because the grant of patent depends to some extent on how public the subject matter of the invention has been, if you demonstrate, sell or discuss your invention in public before you file, you cannot get a patent.

You can talk to employees, business partners or advisers about your invention but only on a confidential basis preferably following the signing of a non-disclosure agreement.  ipernica can help you with this.

Do patents have a time limit?
An Australian standard patent lasts for 20 years.  However, annual maintenance fees are payable from its fifth year.

How do you get a patent?
Applications should be filed with the Patent Office of IP Australia.  They will assess whether your invention is new and if it meets the legislative requirements.

What about International patents?
Most countries have patent systems similar to the Australian system.  Obtaining patents overseas helps you protect your invention in other markets.

Australia is also a party to a number of international agreements which can reduce the complexity of applying overseas (for example the Patent Cooperation Treaty).  This means, for example, that the filing date of an Australian patent application can usually be used to establish priority for corresponding patent applications made overseas within the following 12 months.

What other forms of Intellectual Property Rights are there?
Trade and service marks can be a variety of things including words, graphics, sounds or smells which are used to differentiate goods and services of one businesses from another.  Trade and service marks may be registered by application to the Patent Office in the particular territory concerned.  Once registered the rights may be renewed indefinitely.

Copyright protects original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts or cable programs and the typographical arrangement of published texts.  The concept also extends to computer programs.  Copyright protects against direct copying, but not against reverse engineering or from independent creation of an identical or similar work.

Registered designs protect the particular design characteristics of manufactured articles which appeal to and are judged by the eye.  Registration requires originality and is obtained by application to the Patent Office in the relevant territory.  The duration of protection varies around the world but is generally up to twenty five years, subject to periodic renewal.

Unregistered designs provide only limited protection for industrial articles, the appearance of which is not normally important.  The right comes into existence automatically when the work is created and exists for a maximum of fifteen years and requires no registration or renewal fees.  Of course, unregistered designs can be harder to prove and defend.

Confidential information and know-how is information relating to anything from the description of an invention or process which are kept secret rather than being protected by some other registered form of intellectual property.  If you are only relying on keeping the information secret, you will have no protection if the secret is revealed or if somebody else makes a similar discovery.