The inventive step is the critical variable in determining balance between patent costs and patent benefits. Set at the right level it ensures that the knowledge spillovers from new inventions offset the costs of restraining competition. But asking the question "is it obvious?" sets a far lower...

Drawing on case law and the results of an empirical study, this paper demonstrates that the height of the inventive step in Australia is close to zero and substantially different from the "significant advance over what is known" advised to the Australian parliament in 2011. To "raise" the height...

Governments have agreed time-limited monopolies to encourage domestic invention through the grant of patents. At the end of the agreed period, the patented invention should be reproducible by skilled persons without undue experimentation and the new knowledge embodied in the invention should be...

Economists assume there is new knowledge or know-how embedded in patented inventions. This new knowledge should result in spillover benefits which can provide dynamic efficiency gains to offset the static efficiency losses of the patent system. Unfortunately this assumption is out-of-date....

The limitations of using patent data as a measure of technological innovation have long been known (Griliches, 1990). Despite this, patent data are frequently used in this way, providing potentially misleading analyses for policy makers. Kingston and Scally (2006) have shown that, for countries...

In the context of the overall purpose of patent policy - to induce invention that would not otherwise occur and which delivers a net benefit to society - this paper reviews the evidence available on the question of gene patenting. The paper starts with assessing the evidence for the need for a...

Patents were originally designed to encourage technological innovation, which would not otherwise occur, and which create spillover benefits. Careful design is needed to ensure patents do not provide windfall benefits to inventions which would take place absent patents. Further, for the grant of...

Despite advice to parliament that patents are granted only for "a significant advance over what was known and what was available to the public" the evidence shows this is not the standard used. The actual standard is a scintilla – a marginal difference from what is known. The consequence of...

This submission takes a public policy perspective, focusing on the public return from the patent system through competition based on the new technology after the 20-year patent monopoly period expires. The government has agreed time-limited monopolies to encourage domestic invention (the patent...

In the context of the initiative for Upgrading the Single Market, the Commission has put forward a re-evaluated approach to trade – Trade for All. The EU prioritises a return to global trade negotiations and puts forward a three-prong strategy for re-invigorating the World Trade...