CANBERRA – The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Act 2018 received Royal Assent, according to IP Australia.

The Act makes several improvements to Australia’s intellectual property (IP) system.

Schedule 1 to this Act gives effect to a number of recommendations from the Productivity Commission’s recent inquiry into Australia’s IP system that the Government’s response supported. Schedule 2 implements a number of measures intended to streamline and align the administration of the Australian IP system along with including technical amendments and other measures mostly related to PBR enforcement.

Collectively, the measures in Schedule 2 will improve the way IP Australia is able to deliver service to its customers by reducing the time both customers and IP Australia needs to spend on administrative matters and simplifying processes in the IP rights system.