Free service to learn the loopholes of intellectual property

Inventors and creators of intellectual property now have access to a free service involving an initial IP consultation with a Patent or Trade Mark Attorney from the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia.

According to IPTA, a significant proportion of Australia's IP is poorly or inappropriately protected, potentially costing IP creators and the country millions of dollars in lost revenue.

"Too few people who create valuable IP know at the outset how to properly protect and commercially exploit what they have created," said Stuart Smith, an IPTA councilor.

"And the sad fact is that once you have filed for IP protection, it can be difficult, expensive, and quite often impossible, to go back later and fix errors or emissions made during the initial drafting and filing processes."

IPTA hopes that its Free Consultation Service will encourage innovators and business people to discuss their IP with a suitably qualified Patent or Trade Mark Attorney.  This will give them an understanding of the most appropriate forms of protection, the different options and associated costs, the documentation they will need, the countries in which they should be filing and the potential pitfalls to avoid.

"Almost every one of our members would know of someone who has tried to 'go it alone' with their IP and ended up either inadequately protected or faced with unnecessary costs when attempting to enforce their rights," said Smith. 

"We see it as part of the Institute's role to take an educational position in relation to IP, in order to minimise these sorts of problems, and our Free Consultation Service is a tangible aspect of that role."

Free consultations can take place in person or, for those living in remote areas, can be take place by phone.  Consultations typically take around 30 minutes, after which IP creators usually have sufficient information to know how best to proceed.  This would include a better understanding of the most suitable forms of IP protection, the different routes by which that protection could be pursued, optional steps such as pre-filing searches and the approximate costs of the various options.

The Institute believes that by widely promoting the Free Consultation Service, the value of Australian IP will rise and individual inventors and innovators will gain the return they deserve for their efforts.

"Many IP creators may still choose to self-file, as their IP could be quite simple, but even in those cases, they would usually be better equipped to avoid some of the pitfalls if they had consulted with a specialist Patent or Trade Mark Attorney.  Others might decide that further professional advice would be a worthwhile investment, given the potential value of their IP and the downside risk of not protecting it adequately at the outset," said Smith.