How to Patent a Product in Australia
If you have made or invented something completely new, that is not yet available commercially, then it is wise to patent your invention. Australian products that have patents on them and have earned their inventors and investors a lot of money include the Dynamic Lifter and The Hills Hoist. Patents are legal documentation which allow the owner exclusive permission to use their invention for commercial gain for the life of the patent, or about 20 years. The process of patenting is extremely complicated, takes a long time, and requires extensive legal training. In Australia, it cannot be done by someone who is not qualified in patenting law.
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Instructions
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How to Patent a Product in Australia
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Understand the patenting process. Patents are only issued by IP Australia's patent office and the item to be covered must satisfy all of the criteria covered by the Patents Act 1990, such as: patents can only be used on technology (i.e. a product, composition, or a procedure); the technology must be completely new and entirely different from other products; it has to do exactly what the person applying for the patent claims; it must be beneficial, practical and functional and provide the capacity for commercial profits; finally it must be a innovative and not simply an obvious solution to a problem.
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Understand what you cannot patent. This includes facts, naturally-occurring objects (this excludes modified items such as genetically-modified bacteria or plants), ideas, things protected by copyright such as computer software and artistic work (including products from musical, dramatic and literary work, as these have copyright protection), objects covered by a trademark (such as company branding, words and symbols or pictures and sounds) or designs.
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Collect detailed and accurate documentation of the item to be patented. This includes taking extensive notes regarding the exact specifications of the product in a logbook and keeping this in a secure location. The logbook may be witnessed and authenticated by a Justice of the Peace or a solicitor. Everything used to produce the product must be noted down and ideally, photographed, drawn, or video-recorded.
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Hire or seek advice from an Australian patent attorney or advisor. Note that the US is the only country worldwide that requires patent advisors to be attorneys. All other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, the EU States, Singapore and Hong Kong, allow qualified patent ad visors who have passed the stringent patent licensing legal courses to work on patents. It is therefore entirely unnecessary to incur the unnecessary costs of hiring an attorney unless this is absolutely necessary (e.g. complicated patent or product specification)
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Decide if you want a normal patent, or the less expensive and complicated option of an 'innovation patent' which only protects the invention for 8 years. This is best suited to inventions that may be quickly replaced by other ones.
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Submit an application to the Patent Office in the IP Australia office in Canberra.
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