National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy. Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia?s, are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. What is the impact of this agenda on Australia's interests? Should Australia take the lead in ....National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy. Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia?s, are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. What is the impact of this agenda on Australia's interests? Should Australia take the lead in pushing for a regional patent organization? Using sociolegal techniques, the study will answer these and other key questions facing Australian policy makers. The work of patent offices within APEC, ASEAN and the Pacific Island Forum (for example, NZ, Fiji, and China)will be the subject of in-depth fieldwork and analysis.Read moreRead less
Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture. The development of new plant varieties is crucial to the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture. It also has wider social, cultural and economic consequences. Intellectual property laws have the potential to promote and hinder the developments of new plant varieties. In recent years there has been a shift towards the use of patents to protect plant i ....Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture. The development of new plant varieties is crucial to the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture. It also has wider social, cultural and economic consequences. Intellectual property laws have the potential to promote and hinder the developments of new plant varieties. In recent years there has been a shift towards the use of patents to protect plant innovations: a trend which has the potential to transform existing research and development arrangements and industry practices in Australia. By providing policy-makers and stakeholders with recommendations on how to respond to and manage these changes, the project will promote plant breeding in Australia and also enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Drug Companies, their Patenting Strategies and High-Cost Pharmaceuticals: An Empirical Investigation. Pharmaceuticals are a vital part of clinical services that maintain and improve Australia's health; they are also costly, absorbing a substantial proportion of the national health expenditures. By conferring market protections, the patent system helps the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to recoup the high costs of research associated with developing new products. Abuses of the patent system by ....Drug Companies, their Patenting Strategies and High-Cost Pharmaceuticals: An Empirical Investigation. Pharmaceuticals are a vital part of clinical services that maintain and improve Australia's health; they are also costly, absorbing a substantial proportion of the national health expenditures. By conferring market protections, the patent system helps the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to recoup the high costs of research associated with developing new products. Abuses of the patent system by pharmaceutical manufacturers have the potential to stifle competition and inappropriately raise the costs of pharmaceuticals to society. This innovative, cross-disciplinary, research will investigate the existence of abusive patents and, if necessary, propose reforms that will prevent further abuse and reduce the size of the health budget. Read moreRead less