Patent term extension: Australia issues Issues Paper

Just over a month ago, in "Australia takes aim at SPCs: will they survive?", here, The SPC Blog announced the no-holds-barred review of pharmaceutical patents which was about to take place in Australia.  IP Australia has now issued the following information:

Pharmaceutical Patents Review Panel releases Issues Paper

The Pharmaceutical Patents Review Panel has released an Issues Paper, inviting the public to make submissions by 21 January 2013.  The Panel conducting the review will submit a final report to Government in April 2013.

The review will evaluate whether the system for pharmaceutical patents is effectively balancing the objectives of securing timely access to competitively priced pharmaceuticals, while fostering innovation and supporting research. In particular, the extension of term provisions will be reviewed.

The public are also invited to contribute to the review by commenting on the review's blog. The Review Panel will be posting topics and papers on the blog for further discussion during the review.

See the Background and Suggested Issues paper. 

The Background and Special Issues paper is 72 pages long; patent term extension is dealt with on pages 4 to 14.

This blogger is not certain how inclusively the word "public" is understood within the context of the review, but suspects that its intention is to encourage a wide range of responses rather than merely those from the various sectors of the pharma industry.

The SPC Blog thanks Anna Feros (Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP) for the link.