Dictionary - Intellectual Property

abstract = See patent abstract

ACIP = Advisory Council on Intellectual Property

ALRC = Australian Law Reform Commission

application for a patent = See patent application

applicant = See patent applicant

assignment of rights = occurs when the IP owner sells or bequeaths their IP rights to someone else

auDA = auDA Foundation

auDA Foundation = Domain Name Administrator in Australia

AUSFTA = Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement

Australian Patents Act 1903 (Cth)

Australian Patents Act 1952 (Cth)

Australian Patents Act 1990 (Cth)

automatic rights = IP rights that come into effect at the moment of creation. No formal registration is necessary to protect these IP rights. In Australia, copyright and circuit layout rights are automatic rights.

basic application = the document that establishes priority of claim to IP. In Australia the basic document is the one "first filed" with the patent office, whether that is a provisional or complete application. In the case of a convention application made in Australia, the basic document will be the one filed in the foreign country from which the convention application derives its priority.

certification mark = a mark used to distinguish goods or services dealt with or provided in the course of trade and certified by the trade mark owner (or by another person approved by the owner) in relation to quality, accuracy or some other characteristic including origin, material or mode of manufacture

circuit layout rights = rights that automatically protect original layout designs for integrated circuits, and computer chips. While these rights are based on copyright law principles they are a separate, unique form of protection.

claim = a concise written statement that defines the invention covered by the patent applicant to the patent office. What falls within that definition is protected by the patent; anything outside that definition is not protected.

classes = classification systems used by the patent office to assist with searching databases of patents, trade marks, designs and plant varieties. Classes for patents are determined by the International Patent Classification (IPC) system

collective mark = a mark used in the course of trade by members of an association

Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 (Cth)

commercialisation = turning a good idea, an invention, a patent into a product available to be sold on the market

complete specification = full description of invention

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)

convention application = an application made under international convention which should be made through IP Australia

copyright = laws to protect the original expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. It is free and automatically safeguards your original works of art, literature, music, films, broadcasts and computer programs from copying and certain other uses.

Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)

design = see industrial design

Designs Act 2003 (Cth)

Designs Regulations 2004 (Cth)

divisional application = the dividing of an application to the patent office into two or more applications

enforce = take action against infringer

enforcement = legal action against infringer

EPC = European Patent Convention

EPO = European Patent Office

ethics dictionary = some important words for corporate ethics

ICANN = Internet Corporation (for) Assigned Names (and) Numbers

exploit = (a) (where the invention is a product) to make, hire, sell or otherwise dispose it, offer to make, sell, hire or otherwise dispose of it, use or import it, or keep it for the purpose of doing any of those things; or (b) (where the invention is a method or process) use the method or process or do any of those things in respect of a product resulting from its use.

exclusive licencee = a licence granted by the patentee and conferring on the licensee, or on the licensee and persons authorised by the licensee, the right to exploit the patented invention throughout the patent area to the exclusion of the patentee and all other persons

industrial design registration = the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation which can be judged by the eye in finished products. Design registration is for manufactured products, NOT artistic designs. In other words, registered designs protect the way manufactured products look.

industrial property = IP that has an industrial application

infringement = performance of a prohibited act with respect to a patent, trade mark, design or plant variety without permission from the owner. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a licence

infringer = person who infringes the IP rights of the owner

innovation patent = a form of protection available in Australia for comparatively minor innovations and improvements. Protection is available through IP Australia for up to eight years. For suitable subject matter, innovation patents require only novelty and an ?innovative step? to be valid.

intellectual property (IP) = the property of your mind or intellect

international application (patent) = file an International Application with the Patent Office of IP Australia under the PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty) designating the countries in which you want a patent

inventive step = a necessary step because the invention is not obvious to someone with knowledge and experience in the technological field of the invention

inventor = a person whose involvement and contribution was essential to the development of the invention

IP = intellectual property

IP Australia

IP law = See

IP matters = patents, trade marks, designs, confidential information/trade secrets, copyright, circuit layout rights, plant breeder's rights, etc.

IP rights = rights of ownership; See intellectual property

IP types = patents, trade marks, designs, confidential information/trade secrets, copyright, circuit layout rights, plant breeder's rights, etc.

International Patent Classification (IPC) = established by the Strasbourg Agreement 1971, provides for a hierarchical system of language independent symbols for the classification of patents and utility models according to the different areas of technology to which they pertain

IP Australia = the patent office in Australia

IP Australia Media Centre Phrase Book = a great place to start!

IP legislation = Acts and Regs administered by IP Australia

IP owner = owner of IP

IPC = International Patent Classification

IPCRC = Intellectual Property & Competition Review Committee

IPRIA = Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia

letters patent = instrument issued by a government granting a right or conveying title to a private individual or organization

joint patentee = a patent may be granted to two or more patentees jointly

licence = an agreement between the patentee and the licensee conferring on the licensee the right to exploit (but not to own) the patented invention

licensee = recipient of the right to exploit (but not own) the IP under licence

licensing of rights = an alternative to assignment of rights; See licence

licensor = owner of IP who grants to the licensee under licence the right to use (but not own) the IP

Locarno System of Classification = international convention on Designs

manner of manufacture = a legal term used to distinguish inventions which are patentable from those which are not. Artistic creations, mathematical methods, plans, schemes or other purely mental processes usually cannot be patented.

NDRC = landmark decision of the High Court 1959 National Development Research Corporation vs. Commissioner of Patents establishing the modern test for manner of manufacture

new = not publicly disclosed in any form, anywhere in the world.

NICE International Classification = international convention on trade marks

nominated person = the person(s) or body corporate that owns the IP

non-patentable subject matter = not an invention or a manner of manufacture as defined in the Statute of Monopolies; an invention claimed but which is found to be not novel, not inventive and/or not useful; human beings, subject matters that are contrary to law, certain foods and medicines and certain uses of a person's name are specifically excluded by relevant Acts and Regulations or may be refused by the patent office.

omnibus claim = a special claim with the patent office that uses description and/or drawings to detail the preferred form of the invention

owner = See IP owner

patent = a right granted for any device, substance, method or process, which is new, inventive and useful

Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Act, 1883 (UK)

Patents Act 1990 (Cth)

Patents Regulations 1991 (Cth)

patent abstract = an important document; a brief summary of the invention to assist the registrant to identify and understand its key features when making an application to the patent office; this document can play a key role in establishing IP rights

patent applicant = person(s) or organisation(s) making an application to the patent office for IP

patent application = an application to the patent office for IP

patent attorney = a registered professional granted rights under the Act to give advice on IP matters and prepare all documents, transact all business and conduct all proceedings on IP matters on behalf of his/her client for the purposes of the Act

patent office = See IP Australia

patentable subject matter = an invention, a manner of manufacture as defined in the Statute of Monopolies, which is novel, inventive and useful; See non-patenable subject matter

patentee = owner of a patent under the Patents Act

Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) = See international application

PCT = Patent Co-operation Treaty

plant breeder's rights = used to protect new varieties of plants by giving exclusive commercial rights to market a new variety or its reproductive material

Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth)

Plant Breeder's Rights Regulations 1994 (Cth)

priority date = an important date; it is the date when you first file a patent application with the patent office that describes the invention in detail. This is used to determine if your invention is new. If your invention is known to the public before this date, you are not entitled to patent it.

provisional application = an interim document in patent actions. It does not form the basis of the grant of the patent but is a document that precedes the complete application upon which the grant is based. A provisional application establishes a priority date for disclosure of the details of an invention and allows a period of up to 12 months for development and refinement of the invention before the patent claims take their final form in a complete application.

provisional patent =

provisional specification = used to establish a priority date for an invention. It does not give you patent protection on its own and does not cover you for any subsequent developments or improvements made to your invention. You must file a complete application associated with your provisional application, or file an international application claiming priority from the provisional, within 12 months or you will lose your priority date.

rights = rights of ownership; See intellectual property

Statute of Monopolies (1623) = English (UK) legislation that became the basis of Westminster system IP law

trade mark = a letter, number, word, phrase, sound, smell, shape, logo, picture, aspect of packaging or any combination of these, which is used to distinguish goods and services of one trader from those of another.

Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth

Trade Marks Regulations 1995 (Cth)

trade secret = a type of IP and a strategy for protecting IP. It includes proprietary knowledge (know-how) and other confidential information.

TRIPS = (World Trade Agreement on ) Trade-Related (Aspects of) Intellectual Property (Right)s

Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) = international convention on Plant Breeders' Rights

UPOV = Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties

useful = it meets its promise; the invention performs a function that is useful and that performs as defined in the claim

WIPO = World Intellectual Property Organization