Overview
The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science seeks to better understand the needs of innovative Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in managing and exploiting their intellectual capital. By intellectual capital we mean things like ideas, know-how, branding, data, trade secrets and copyright and also registered intellectual property (IP) rights such as patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder’s rights.
Why we are consulting
In August 2017, the Government responded to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Australia’s IP arrangements, supporting the phasing out of the innovation patent and noting difficulties faced by SMEs in accessing affordable enforcement. The Government committed to continue to further explore the overall needs of Australian SMEs in relation to exploiting their intellectual capital, and securing, utilising and enforcing their IP rights.
Through this consultation, we invite SMEs to tell us about how you manage and leverage your intellectual capital to meet your business objectives and what you need in order to meet these objectives. We wish to explore your understanding and experience of intellectual capital, and how it is generated, recorded, managed and exploited to maximise benefits to the business.
Submissions will not be published.
The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science will also be undertaking more targeted consultation with a range of innovative SMEs, including one-on-one.
Privacy Collection Statement
The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (the Department) is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) outlined in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) which regulates how entities may collect, use, disclose and store personal information.
Your personal information is being collected by the Department to carry out its functions including to inform its understanding of the needs of SMEs in relation to exploiting their intellectual capital, securing and utilising IP rights and accessing affordable enforcement of IP rights, and to allow the Department to contact you regarding your response if required.
The Department will collect from all submissions personal information including your name, email, business name, business details (such as size, age and ABN) and submission comments and opinions, for the purposes of analysing and identifying the types of stakeholders who have responded to the consultation, provide context to the submissions and to allow the department to contact you to clarify any aspect of your submission.
The information may be disclosed to departmental staff, staff of other Commonwealth government entities, the Minister, the Assistant Minister, staff members of ministerial offices relevant to policy around the abovementioned purposes and uses.
Personal Information obtained will be stored and held in accordance with the Department’s obligations under the Archives Act 1983 (Cth). Personal information obtained will only be used and disclosed for the purposes outlined above and will not be used or disclosed without your consent, except where authorised or required by law. For further information, please refer to the Department’s Privacy Policy.
Submitting your submission
You can submit your submission by either post or email
- Email
IP.consultation@industry.gov.au - Post
Lynn Bloomfield
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
GPO Box 2013
Canberra, ACT, 2601
What happens next
The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science will review all responses received. The consultation process will also feature some one-on-one interviews. If you have indicated interest in further consultation, we may contact you in the near future.