In an Australian first, F B Rice & Co commenced filing Australian patent applications electronically on 29 June 2007. This eFiling capability is the result of a lengthy collaboration between F B Rice & Co, IP Australia and CPA Software Solutions to develop a highly efficient electronic filing system.
When entering into this project, the aim of F B Rice & Co was to develop a filing system that added value rather than just using technology for technology’s sake. The resulting system requires no additional data entry or document preparation as the whole transaction is generated from data already in our Inprotech database. Importantly, the return communications from the Patent Office are automatically logged, and data is extracted back into the database which in turn reduces the requirement for data entry.
In considering eFiling solutions, security was always a high priority amongst the collaborators and the resulting system makes use of the Australian Government’s ABNDSC certificates to sign and encrypt transactions to ensure authenticity and security. It is believed this system carries a number of features that represent world firsts for providing an efficient IP filing system. It also has the potential to significantly increase efficiency and avoid keying errors in both the attorney firm and at IP Australia.
At present only one transaction type is available but with successful live transactions under our belt, we will be looking to the Patent Office to implement further transaction types in the near future. A prioritized list of transactions has already been developed to meet the needs of attorneys and IP Australia, spanning transactions with the Patent, Trademarks and Designs Offices.
F B Rice & Co thanks IP Australia and CPA Software Solutions for their enormous assistance in the development of this new important tool that will allow us to deliver a better service to clients in the future.
For further or more specific information on the eFiling system adopted by IP Australia or the software that F B Rice & Co uses to interface with the IP Australia Portal, please contact Chris Owens (cowens@fbrice.com.au) or any of the other practitioners of F B Rice & Co via our website at www.fbrice.com.au .
The information contained in this alert is provided for informational purposes only and does not represent legal advice. Neither the APLF nor the author intends to create an attorney client relationship by providing this information to you through this message.
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