Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia

IPRIA Working Paper Series

    Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia Working Paper No. 04/2007

    Duration of Patent Protection: Does one size fit all?

    by

    Andrew F Christie and Fiona Rotstein

    Date: June 2007

    Abstract: “The patent system has a ‘one size’ approach to duration of protection, in that all inventions are entitled to the same maximum period of grant: 20 years. This paper seeks to answer the question whether this ‘one size’ approach ‘fits all’ inventions. It does so by determining if the duration of protection is within the reasonable bounds of what might be considered optimal, when account is taken of the economic theory on duration, patentees’ practices regarding renewal of their patents and the legal features of the current system. It finds that the system on duration of patent protection currently in operation matches closely to what would be considered optimal.”

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