Patent Claims: Interpretation, Validity and Infringement is an exposition on the crux of Australian patent law. Patent claims emerged in UK patent drafting custom from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries, and obtained their Anglo-Australian legal status as the definers of patent scope in the 1930s. Today, patent claims are the fulcrum of modern patent law in Australia and other patent territories.
This book explains the role that patent claims play; the basis upon which claims are construed; the principal grounds which must be satisfied for claims to be valid; and the main bases upon which infringement liability may arise. It has an intense focus on the body of principles that have evolved over several decades under the Patents Act 1990 (Cth), and in which Australian patent law can be seen to be both highly distinguishable from, and purposefully harmonised with, modern UK law. A key feature of the book is its cohesive treatment, in which cross-cutting influences are referenced to permit the reader to understand connections and trade-offs.
This book, the first of its kind in Australia, is a must-have resource for lawyers, patent attorneys, judges, students and those in patent-dependent industries or who administer the Australian patent system.
The strength of this work is not only the depth and rigour of its analysis. It is rich with historical explanations and elucidatory comparisons with United Kingdom, European, and United States patent law. It explores a number of engaging legal questions, and provides a critical appraisal of the current and emerging state of patent law as applied in Australia.
The result is that this work is more than a textbook. It is an exposition on patent claims in which the author’s masterful exploration of, and mature insights into, his subject becomes, equally, the reader’s journey to a greater and deeper understanding of patent law. For this reason, this new work will be of enduring benefit to students and practitioners alike. Indeed, it is a work that should not only be consulted in everyday practice but read from beginning to end. – From the Foreword by the Hon David M Yates SC, Former Judge of the Federal Court of Australia
