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The value of proper intellectual property protection for ICTbased ideas was recently reinforced by the patent battle between Australia’s CSIRO and 14 of the world’s largest technology companies. The outcome of this legal dispute was a confidential out-of-court settlement agreement which according to some reports has already gained the CSIRO approximately $200 million, with more on the way. The dispute was centred on a 15-year old CSIRO patent relating to “a wireless LAN, a peer-to-peer wireless LAN, a wireless transceiver and a method of transmitting data”. The patent was filed in November 1993 and granted in January 1996. Wireless networking was still in its infancy at that stage, but a decade after the patent’s filing date, Intel launched its Centrino notebook platform and pushed Wi-Fi networking into the mainstream arena. Apple’s inclusion of Wi-Fi in its notebooks and desktops also played its part in establishing the 802.11 industry standard for wireless networking. This outcome has once again proven the importance of obtaining proper intellectual property protection for ICT inventions and other potentially valuable innovations in the ICT field. The lesson to be learned from CSIRO’s patent battle is that you should always consider seeking protection for research outcomes and to assist with this, consulting with your patent attorney during the very early stages of any developments in the ICT field is usually the best course of action to avoid issues at a later date. Neal Schutte, telephone 07 3368 2255. < Return to the Exchange front page More topics:
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