Australia and Software Patents
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Australia has traditionally been skeptical of patents. The patent system and in particular its expansion into software and business methods were pushed on Australia by uncontrolled judicial developments and trade treaties with the US. The subject flared up again in 2004 thanks to the AU-US Free Trade Agreement and some new decisions on business methods.
News and Chronology
Feel free to add news (e.g. from Google) to the top.
2004-11-04 AU The Age: Patents 'pose equal threat to all software'
2004-11-04 AU ZDNet.com.au: Patent fear plagues Aussie developers
2004-10-14 RMS talk in Sydney (--> RMS Tours)
2004-09-07 MP Pierce: AUSFTA only harmonises the status quo on software patents
2004-08-06 Software groups concerned about "harmonisation of patent law" with US, gov't sees no danger
2004-08-03 TechDirt: US Exports DMCA & Software Patents To Australia
2004-08-03 Brainbox: How AUSFTA could damage local software industry -- discussion of SMH/Gittins article
2004-08-02 SMH/Gittins: AU-US Trade Agreement a free kick for US software patent racketeers
2004-06-23 DFAT minister Vaile introduces AUSFTA Implementation Bill
2004-05-31 David Richardson study on IPR & AUSFTA -- research paper about the US strategy in the AUSFTA. The term "IPR" is largely used as a synonym for "patents"
2004-05-18 DFAT minister Vaile signs the AUSFTA in Washington (on the same day in Brussels, the EU Council reaches political agreement for removal of all limits on patentability)
2004-03-04 AUSFTA Full Text released, chapter 17 on "intellectual property rights"
- 2004-02-08 Trade Minister Mark Vaile announces that Australia and the US have agreed to AUSFTA
- 1986 Mandeville Study Report, commissioned by AU government, warns that the patent system has been unuseful as a tool for fostering innovation in general and should not be allowed to trespass into fields such as software and genetics in particular. Two years later, the AU PTO publishes new guidelines to allow patents on "software-related inventions"
Outline
The debate about the AU-US Free Trade Agreement is documented separately.
