实用新型专利究竟有没有用？听听澳大利亚知识产权局怎么说 | 每日IP英文010
每日IP英文的第10天：澳大利亚也有类似中国的实用新型专利，叫做创新专利(Innovation patent)。
创新专利的费用较低，保护期只有8年，也不经过实质审查，授权很快，但是，当要行使权利的时候，则须经过审查，不过对创新专利的创造性要求非常低。
澳大利亚创新专利与中国实用新型专利的区别，主要在于澳大利亚的创新专利，除了保护产品之外，也保护方法，而中国的实用新型专利仅保护产品；此外，两者保护期限不同，澳大利亚创新专利的保护期限为8年，中国的实用新型专利保护期限为10年。
然而，介绍这么多，可能没什么必要，因为，澳大利亚正在修改专利法，新的专利法很可能会取消创新专利制度。
下面这篇报道就解释了澳大利亚为什么会取消创新专利：
澳大利亚知识产权局认为创新专利不经过实质审查，所以价值很低，它并没有实现帮助中小企业的目标，其实还是会给中小企业带来不少成本。大部分企业第一次申请创新专利之后，不会再申请创新专利，而且大部分企业的创新专利都提前失效了，根本没有去行使权利。
事实上，2016年，澳大利亚的中小企业申请标准专利(Standard patent，对应我国的发明专利)的数量是创新专利数量的三倍。
此外，他们认为现在申请创新专利的多半是外国企业，非但没有帮助本国的中小企业，还带来了专利丛林的问题，阻止了创新。
澳大利亚知识产权局甚至非常尖刻的说了一句：它很少被使用，而且鼓励产生那些低价值专利，比如让比萨饼盒变成围脖( it was little used and encouraged low-value patents such as a pizza box that turns into a bib)。
澳大利亚的做法或许对我们有一定的借鉴作用，当然，每个国家的国情、所处的阶段不同，您觉得中国的实用新型制度有没有用呢？欢迎留言。
原文如下：
Most small businesses were not getting value from innovation patents: IP Australia
By Chris Duckett |
Since the introduction of innovation patents in Australia in 2001, purportedly to boost the innovation metric in small and medium-sized businesses, less than 5,000 were ever awarded to the scheme's targets.
"Innovation patents are filed by a very small proportion of Australian businesses," IP Australia said in response to Senate Questions on Notice. "As of February 2018, in total, 4,269 Australian SMEs had ever applied for an innovation patent."
In 2016, local small businesses applied for almost 1,700 standard patents and less than 500 innovation patents, the agency said.
IP Australia further added that most businesses are not getting value from the system, with 74 percent filing once and never again, 78 percent letting the patent expire early, and 83 percent never receiving an enforceable right by having the agency review the patent.
"In 2016, Australian SMEs filed more than three times the number of standard patents than innovation patents," IP Australia said.
Rather than helping small businesses, IP Australia said it was hitting them to the tune of AU$6 million to AU$17 million each year in regulatory burden.
"The identified problems are mainly associated with the fact that innovation patents are granted without being examined and the low innovation threshold required by the system," the agency said.
"The absence of compulsory examination before grant causes uncertainty and imposes a burden on competitors who must understand that a granted innovation patent does not confer the same rights as a granted standard patent."
IP Australia said that in 2016, 54 percent of innovation patents were filed by international applicants and multinational firms held the "largest portfolios of certified (enforceable) innovation patents".
Over time, innovation patents have also been used strategically and slowed innovation, IP Australia added.
At the end of 2016, Australia's Productivity Commission recommended the ditching of the innovation patent system, stating it was little used and encouraged low-value patents such as a pizza box that turns into a bib.
The commission dismissed ideas of reforming the system as it would essentially be a return to petty patents, which it stated was lacking.
"The community's interests, and the interests of SMEs, would be better served by abolishing innovation patents and directly tackling the IP issues of greatest concern to SMEs, such as patent infringement and enforcement costs," the report said.
Innovation patents made up fewer than 5 percent of all patents in force, the commission said.
In its response in August 2017, the government said it would change the Patents Act to remove innovation patents, and would explore "more direct mechanisms" to support small business and allow them to access affordable enforcement.
Source：https://www.zdnet.com/article/most-small-businesses-were-not-getting-value-from-innovation-patents-ip-australia/
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