IP SOLUTIONS BLOG

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have partnered to offer a Master of Intellectual Property Law program in Australia, beginning in February 2010. The program is the first of its kind to be offered in the Asia-Pacific region.

From left to right: Andrew O'Brien (Regional Sales Mgr., Thomson Reuters), Philip Noonan (Dir. General, IP Australia), Brian Fitzgerald (Prof. of IP Property & Innovation, QUT), The Hon. Michael Lavarch (Exec. Dean, Faculty of Law, QUT), Kamal Puri (Prof. of IP Law & Program Director, WIPO-QUT Master of IP Law), Steve Thom (Senior Advisor, Office of the Director General, WIPO), Dr. Francis Gurry (Dir. General, WIPO), Jeff Roberts (Asst. Director, International Cooperation, IP Australia).

Thomson Reuters will support the innovative program by providing the university with access to its industry-leading patent research and analysis solution, Thomson Innovation. With the program placing special emphasis on IP matters specific to the Asia-Pacific region, the comprehensive Asia-Pacific patent coverage in Thomson Innovation will be useful for students. The aim is to provide future IP law professionals with the necessary tools to succeed in their courses and become acclimated to products that will help them flourish in their careers.

Thomson Innovation provides full-text English translations of Japanese and Korean patent data, English translations of the titles, abstracts and claims for Chinese data, as well as editorially enhanced, English-language abstracts of patents from Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand , the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan.

Read the program brochure.

Laura Gaze, Senior Marketing Manager, IP Solutions Global IP, Innovation, Thomson Reuters asia, Asia-Pacific

Joff Wild of IAM Magazine reports in his blog that during IP Business Congress 2009, Ian Harvey, UK Intellectual Property Institute chairman, observed that a recent Chinese government delegation to the UK came in the hope of getting comments from British businesses about proposed amendments to the Chinese Patent Act (due to come into force October 1 2009). The delegation received no feedback, which indicates either a complete lack of awareness or complete disinterest in changes due to hit 3 months from today.

It struck me that despite the availability of much comment about the proposed amendments, I hadn’t seen the actual text of the amendments anywhere. No wonder – it appears to be copyright-protected material and available only on payment of a subscription at the Lawinfochina.com website .

While limiting availability of the text through a single channel may be sufficient to deter casual enquirers, those companies that have business in China and are subject to IP considerations should really act now (if it’s not already too late) to obtain the original text of the proposed amendments and begin to assess and plan for the potential impact on their future business in that country.

Anyone disagree?

Bob Stembridge, Customer Relations Manager, Thomson Reuters Patent Law, Patent Reform, Patents Asia-Pacific, Chinese Patent Law, patent, Patent Reform