Australian Government releases response to Productivity Commission Inquiry into IP Arrangements

28 August 2017

The Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Arthur Sinodinos, has released a response to the Productivity Commission’s (PC) Inquiry on Intellectual Property (IP) on behalf of the Australian Government.

MTPConnect participated in the Productivity Commission’s public inquiry into Australia’s IP system, providing views and feedback from the sector.

The Productivity Commission was asked by the Australian Government to consider whether current arrangements provide an appropriate balance between access to ideas and products, and encouraging innovation, investment and the production of creative works, and the final report was published in December 2016.

The Government will now engage with industry and stakeholders through consultation to determine how best to implement the reforms, aiming to improve Australia’s IP arrangements by “ensuring they provide the flexibility needed for our 21st century economy.”

Supported recommendations include:

• facilitating fairer access for Australians to copyright material
• IP policy to be monitored by a new IP Policy Group
• a review of the voluntary code for collecting societies to ensure it remains the best mechanism to promote efficient, effective and transparent administration of copyright licences
• reform of patent filing processes to require applicants to identify the technical features of the invention in the set of claims
• establishing and maintaining greater IP policy expertise in the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

View the full Government media release and response to the review for further details.

MTPConnect will be engaging with the sector and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science to advocate for the needs of the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in Australia in a robust and supportive IP system that will encourage the ongoing growth and competitiveness of our sector.