Can an AI System be Classified an Inventor – a Comparison of the Australian, US and UK Perspectives

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Following the decision in Thaler v Commissioner of Patents that an AI system DABUS can be named an inventor for a patent application, it would appear that Australia is one of only two countries where this has been deemed allowable, the other being South Africa. The rationale for such a position in Australia can be contrasted …
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POF gets loud for Loud Shirt Day 2021

It’s time to get LOUD! Today we are celebrating Loud Shirt Day – which aims to raise awareness and vital funds to ensure children with hearing loss continue to receive crucial intervention to help meet their goals. To help raise awareness, we were delighted to be joined by Bronwyn Skafte from NextSense – a not-for-profit …
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POF practitioners recognised as Rising Stars – MIP IP Stars Awards 2021

We are very pleased to announce that Senior Associates Michelle Blythe, Helen McFadzean, and Dr Annabella Newton have once again been recognised as Rising Stars in the IP Stars awards.  Each year research analysts receive and analyse information on law firms and practitioners that provide IP services. Traditionally, the individual listings in IP Stars feature senior …
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Keep it Confidential: When conducting an exempt ‘reasonable trial’ before filing can still cause you a problem!

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In Fuchs Lubricants v Quaker Chemical[1] , the Full Federal Court has clarified which of the ancillary activities that might occur before, around or in conjunction with a public working of an invention for the purpose of reasonable trial, before the lodgement of a patent application can be ignored (and thus will not be damaging), …
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Australian Patent Office in favour of Blockchain…for the moment

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E-commerce giant Alibaba has had a win before the Australian Patent Office in relation to an application for their technology which improves privacy on the blockchain. In a recent decision, the Delegate found that Alibaba’s patent application satisfies the manner of manufacture requirement, and that amendments made to address an objection were valid and supported …
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Further consolidation of Australia’s IP landscape

8 September 2021 marked a significant event in the Australian patent and trademark attorney profession, with the announcement of the imminent integration of Shelston IP into Spruson & Ferguson. The Shelston brand – one of Australia’s oldest – will be retired. Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick remains a privately owned business, even after being in operation for …
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Is DAS. Is good.

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The DAS stores electronic Certified Copies of Priority Documents and allows retrieval of these documents by certain patent offices via a DAS code. The service is most relevant to applicants who file complete (i.e. Paris convention) patents and designs (and to a lesser extent trade marks). For a long time, DAS wasn’t useful as not a lot of countries were party to it or accepted …
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Congratulations to our new Senior Associate

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Jacqueline Leong to the position of Senior Associate, effective from 1 September 2021. This promotion is a significant milestone that recognises Jacqueline’s exceptional work, client service, and leadership. Prior to joining POF, Jacqueline worked as a trade mark solicitor in the intellectual property department of one of …
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