But what about work-arounds?
To close off potential loopholes, there is benefit in having a background pending application, which can be targeted toward infringements not captured by the original patent.
A powerful illustration of the success of this strategy involves the recent case of Australian Mud, a company that provides drilling technology to mining and drilling industries.
Australian Mud was awarded an innovation patent and maintained a pending patent application for a core drilling device. A competitor developed a competing work-around system that included a component difference, but did not alter the key function of the invention.
While the Federal Court initially concluded that the competitor's work-around avoided the innovation patent, having a pending patent application allowed Australian Mud to have a second bite at the cherry by filing two further innovation patents, which retained the filing date of their pending patent application.
The Federal Court subsequently concluded that Australian Mud’s further innovation patents were infringed.
KEY TAKEAWAY
There are various ways a patent can be put to work, to both protect and grow your business. Retaining a pending patent application allows an innovator the flexibility to lodge modified patents in the future that are tailored to catch a competitor’s activities. Make sure you explore options such as this with an experienced patent attorney to ensure that you get maximum value from your IP assets.
INNOVATION keeps your business ahead of the competition. There are various intellectual property rights that can be used to protect an innovation. A patent is one of the traditional tools to stop competitor copying.
But what about work-arounds?
To close off potential loopholes, there is benefit in having a background pending application, which can be targeted toward infringements not captured by the original patent.
A powerful illustration of the success of this strategy involves the recent case of Australian Mud, a company that provides drilling technology to mining and drilling industries.
Australian Mud was awarded an innovation patent and maintained a pending patent application for a core drilling device. A competitor developed a competing work-around system that included a component difference, but did not alter the key function of the invention.
While the Federal Court initially concluded that the competitor's work-around avoided the innovation patent, having a pending patent application allowed Australian Mud to have a second bite at the cherry by filing two further innovation patents, which retained the filing date of their pending patent application.
The Federal Court subsequently concluded that Australian Mud’s further innovation patents were infringed.
KEY TAKEAWAY
There are various ways a patent can be put to work, to both protect and grow your business. Retaining a pending patent application allows an innovator the flexibility to lodge modified patents in the future that are tailored to catch a competitor’s activities. Make sure you explore options such as this with an experienced patent attorney to ensure that you get maximum value from your IP assets.
