Intellectual Property

Click here to download the State Government's Intellectual Property Policy

It is very important to develop a strategy to protect an idea early on in the development of a new technology. This section provides information on how best to protect intellectual property, the role that Bio Innovation SA can play in this process and some useful links relevant to intellectual property protection and patent searching.

Some key questions/issues to be asked of any new technology

• Is the invention either totally novel or an incremental step on an existing technology?  If either response is yes, the invention may be patentable.
• Can the invention and any developments be substantiated or proven through accurate records i.e. lab notebooks, documentation?
• Have the freely available patent databases been checked for similar products or discoveries? (see links below)
• Has the invention been previously disclosed (eg published and/or presented in a seminar)?
• Does the intellectual property of the invention need to be formally protected or is it better kept as a trade secret?
• What forms of protection are available? 
• What is a patent?
• What is involved in the patent process?
• What costs are associated with a patent?
• Who owns the invention?
• Distinction between ownership of intellectual property and inventorship
• Is the intellectual property encumbered?  Are there any strings attached to any commercial funding already received?

 

Bio Innovation SA Capabilities

Since 2001, Bio Innovation SA has funded the costs associated with filing of a number of provisional patents for technologies invented or co-invented by Department of Health employees (see "Bio Innovation SA Grants" below). Also many  of the Bio Innovation SA team have themselves filed patents and are familiar with the process and confidentiality issues. Additionally, Bio Innovation SA uses an extensive network of patent attorney firms and will often obtain advice from them during initial evaluation of a technology.

Bio Innovation SA Grants

If the technology was developed at a university or a research institute, the in-house commercialisation group will be responsible for funding protection of the intellectual property. If however the technology was developed at an organisation that falls within the jurisdiction of the South Australian Department of Health, Bio Innovation SA may be able to help with the filing of initial applications. Where appropriate, Bio Innovation SA can fund the cost of a provisional patent application to a maximum value of $3,000 (+GST).

Links for seeking information on filing patents and for searching patent databases

The Australian Patent Office	www.ipaustralia.gov.au
The European Patent Office	GB Esp@cenet
The International Patent Office	www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/
The United States Patent Office	www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

 

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