A Senate committee has recommended that Parliament pass Australia's new intellectual property (IP) laws in a bid to promote and incentivise "investment in creativity, innovation, research, and technology".
The Senate Economics Legislation Committee's report said the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Bill 2018 [PDF][1] will phase out the innovation patent system, as well as allowing for automated decision-making on patents.
"Schedule 2 consists of 21 parts which implement a number of measures to streamline and align the administration of the Australian IP system," the report says.
"Schedule 2: Part 5 amends the Patents Act, Designs Act, PBR Act, and Trade Marks Act to enable the commissioner and the registrars to arrange for a computer program under their control to make decisions, exercise powers, and comply with obligations under the legislation."
Under the Bill, the registrar may "arrange for the use, under the registrar's control, of computer programs for any purposes for which the registrar may, or must, under this Act or the regulations: make a decision; or exercise any power or comply with any obligation; or do anything else related to making a decision".
According to the Bill's explanatory memorandum [PDF][2], the introduction of automated decision-making will ease the burden on the commissioner and registrars, who have to "make a large number of decisions" that are currently delegated to IP Australia employees.
"These decisions range from simple decisions that require no discretion to complex decisions that require judgement to be exercised. The use of computerised and computer-assisted decision-making will improve the timeliness and accuracy of decision-making and enable staff to deal with more complicated matters," the explanatory memorandum says.