Peer-to-Patent Pilot to Launch in Australia
Pilot Based on
Original Peer-to-Patent Project at New York Law School
New York, NY (December 8, 2009)—New York Law School’s Center for Patent Innovations (CPI) today announced a new Peer-to-Patent pilot launched in Australia by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and IP Australia, the Australian government’s patent and trademark agency.
Peer-to-Patent Australia is designed to improve the patent examination process and the quality of patents by using Web 2.0 technology to allow experts within the community to review participating patent applications and bring relevant prior art to the attention of IP Australia’s patent examiners. The project will initially run as a six-month trial with a focus on technology, including business methods and computer software.
The Australian Peer-to-Patent project is based on the successful Peer-to-Patent project conducted by New York Law School, and is the result of the collaborative efforts between the Law School and QUT. From June 2007 to June 2009, the Law School conducted the successful Peer-to-Patent pilot, in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and opened the patent examination process for the first time to a network of scientific and technical experts.
“I am delighted to witness the launch of Peer-to-Patent Australia,” Mark Webbink, Executive Director of CPI, said. “We have enjoyed working with Queensland University of Technology in extending the reach of Peer-to-Patent and look forward to a successful pilot.”
Professor Brian Fitzgerald, from QUT’s Faculty of Law, said the project’s aim is to assist patent examiners by identifying prior art they might not otherwise have discovered or had access to. He invites appropriately qualified people to get involved as peer reviewers.
“The success of the project requires the participation of appropriately qualified people from industry, government, academia, and the broader community, many of whom will be exposed to new technologies on a daily basis,” Professor Fitzgerald said.
Philip Noonan, Director General of IP Australia, said that IP Australia is pleased to support Peer-to-Patent Australia. “This initiative is designed to improve the robustness of the patents we grant by creating a community of reviewers who can pool their knowledge and locate potential prior art, particularly in technologies which are advancing rapidly.”
The project will be managed by Ben McEniery, Lecturer at QUT, who says that peer reviewed patents were likely to be more robust, reliable, and of better quality—improvements that will benefit Australian patentees, innovators, and the public at large.
“The public only benefits when patents are granted for inventions that truly represent a novel and inventive advance over the existing state of the art,” McEniery said. “The Peer-to-Patent Australia review process in no way abrogates the responsibility of the patent examiner to assess a patent application. It is solely designed to assist a patent examiner by identifying prior art he or she might not otherwise have discovered or had access to. The final decision as to whether a patent will be granted remains with IP Australia.”
For more details on Peer-to-Patent
Australia, please visit www.peertopatent.org.au. For
more information about the Center for Patent Innovations, please visit www.nyls.edu/centers/projects/center_for_patent_innovations/projects.
About the Center for Patent Innovations
New York Law School formed the Center for Patent Innovations in June
2008 as a part of the Institute for Information Law & Policy. The
Center is focused on bringing real-world technology solutions to improve
government operations, particularly in the area of patent law. The Center
for Patent Innovations will continue to pursue innovations in patent law
and has launched a number of projects related to Peer-to-Patent, such as
the Post-Issue Peer-to-Patent www.post-issue.org, which extends the
community-based approach of finding prior art relevant to re-examination of
patents that have already been granted.
About New York
Law School
Founded in 1891, New York Law School is an
independent law school located in lower Manhattan near the city’s
centers of law, government, and finance. New York Law School’s
renowned faculty of prolific scholars has built the School’s
strength in such areas as constitutional law, civil and human rights,
labor and employment law, media and information law, urban legal studies,
international and comparative law, and a number of interdisciplinary
fields. The School is noted for its eight academic centers: Center on
Business Law & Policy, Center on Financial Services Law, Center for
International Law, Center for New York City Law, Center for Professional
Values and Practice, Center for Real Estate Studies, Institute for
Information Law & Policy, and Justice Action Center. New York Law
School has more than 13,000 graduates and enrolls some 1,500 students in
its full- and part-time J.D. program and its four advanced degree programs
in financial services law, real estate, tax, and mental disability law
studies. www.nyls.edu
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