If you're like most people, you've probably already had that world-changing idea, but never acted on it. If your company is like most others, you've almost definitely developed a handful of business processes and technologies, but they now sit in the bottom draw of a filing cabinet gathering dust. Why is this so often the case? Caught up with other things? Not sure if that big idea is worth pursuing? Worried about idea theft? Stop worrying! According to our experts, it doesn't have to be that way.

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IP TO PAVE AUSTRALIAN PROSPERITY IN CHINA, INDIA

Australian businesses stand to benefit from the effort to develop and standardise the structure and enforcement of patent systems in the region's developing economies, especially China and India.

This is the view of Tony Ward, Principal at leading Australian patent and trade mark attorney firm Griffith Hack and current President of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (IPTA), the profession's foremost representative body.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Ward says that the Chinese patent system is quite sophisticated and strikingly similar to the Australian system. In fact, Australians actually helped implement the Chinese patent system in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"For some years now, China has had a perfectly established patent system," says Ward. "You can get patents in China, but people are wary of their enforcements. I've recently done some research on this and I can tell you that there is an enormous amount of IP enforcement that goes on in China, between Chinese nationals. It's been said that more IP litigation takes place in China than in any other country in the world. But only something like two percent of it involves foreign parties."

By all indications, the Chinese government (not known for sitting on its hands) is aware of international wariness regarding IP infringement and is toughening IP laws and, crucially, their enforcement.

For Ward, the roll of Australian IP firms is to reassure corporate Australia that China has an enforceable system, which will be backed up by the courts. IPTA is set to announce an alliance with the All China Patent Agents Association, the equivalent industry body in China. This will facilitate the sharing of training and expertise to improve both systems.

"Singapore has quite an established system, but not many practitioners. Similarly, Malaysia is established but small. Indonesia has a system, but there are certainly some doubts about its practicality and enforceability. The Chinese system is much more promising for us," says Ward.

Nadia Odorico, a fellow Principal at Griffith Hack believes that the firm's international focus greatly benefits the region. She points to Griffith Hack's recent patent drafting training courses in Malaysia as a good example.

India's economic ascendance also presents an immense opportunity for Australian businesses. Its British colonial fathers bequeathed an established patent system, but also some quirks that often make it more difficult to deal with from outside. "The Indian patent system relies quite heavily on the findings of the US and European systems. They don't usually do their own prior art searches," says Odorico. "And yet they will often request that a patent be redrafted on the basis of some pedantic and at times nonsensical objections."

Ward would like to see a day where a uniform and enforced patent system exists globally. "Internationally, it's fair to say that there is a growing push to achieve uniformity in IP practice and enforcement. And, if there was a uniform system, it's highly unlikely that it would be very different to ours. By making the IP systems of our immediate neighbours more sophisticated, we are surely encouraging the opportunities for Australians to trade with those markets."

The result is a win-win for all involved. "Building up good relations overseas is good for our clients and good for us," says Ward. "It makes the IP system that much more sophisticated in those countries. It makes their patent offices and the courts understand our principles better. The Chinese will begin filing patents in Australia very soon and we want to help them."

Tony Ward and Nadia Odorico are Principals for Griffith Hack, Melbourne, and have over 35 years of combined patent and trade mark experience. Tony Ward is President of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys and both Tony Ward and Nadia Odorico specialise in the patenting of mechanical inventions. (03) 9243 8300