Petri Helenius wrote:
We have had running code for this since early this year, so depending on the date they filed, prior art exists well documented. (blueprints obviously predate running code)
You have to be aware that the Australian Patent System is of declaratory nature only. Anyone can claim anything in an patent application. There is no check on the content done by the patent office. Only the general formal outline of an patent application has to be fulfilled. If you remember the very old story on Slashdot where some guy in Australia managed to secure a patent on a "circular transportation device" (a.k.a. "Wheel") it will explain many things... ;-) Essentially any Australian Patent is worthless and the owner needs to establish its validity in court first before infringement stuff starts. However a patent might come in handy if the owner wants to prevent someone else from importing a device that "violates" his patent. We have basically the same situation in Switzerland. Pretty crappy. Although prior art occurs very fast. Anything known to the public (more than two people outsite of your company) before the date of filing is considered prior art. Even patents in flight while you file your patent establish prior art. So patenting anything that can be found in any mailing list archive, posting or whatever with a date prior to your filing sinks your patent if you go to court. (Which is unlike the US system where you have up to twelve month from disclosing to filing your patent application). Conclusion: Just ignore any Australian Patent. It needs to be validated by a court first (which is highly unlikely considering the substantial prior art). -- Andre