According to the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC):
A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the State to the inventor of a new, inventive and useful product or process.
In the Australian patent law, there are two principal types of patents:
A basic form that includes a broad range of inventions, and it lasts up to 20 years.
Note: The maximum term of Pharmaceutical patents is 25-year.
Introduced in 2001 to replace the Petty Patent System, it is a ‘second tier’ of protection for protecting ‘lower level’ inventions which are not covered by standard patent and the designs legislation. (ALRC, 2010)
For more information and features of standard patents and innovation patents, please visit the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) website.
Standards are published documents that provide guidelines, procedures, protocols, practice, specifications for ensuring the quality, reliability and safety of services, products, etc.
Categories of Standards (Standards Australia, 2025)
Types of Standards (NSW Service, 2025)
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