Australian generic drugmakers welcome IP law to encourage R&D investment

Members of Australia’s Generic Medicines Industry Association (GMiA) have strongly welcomed the federal government’s step of including the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011 on its list of legislation for introduction in the 2011 parliamentary winter sitting.

The purpose of the Bill is to make improvements to intellectual property (IP) rights legislation to better meet the objectives of the IP rights system to support innovation by encouraging investment in research and technology in Australia and by helping Australian business benefit from their good ideas. At present Australia’s patentability standards are set at a level that is lower than the standards set in countries who are our major trading partners.

Patents invalidated in other jurisdictions continue in Australia