The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Bob Baldwin has
released the Final Report on the Review of the Innovation Patent (pdf).
The review has found that whilst the innovation patent system was created principally for SMEs for less-knowledge intensive innovations, because the innovation patent system is also generally speedier and has lower fees than the standard patent system, there is preliminary evidence that a significant proportion of innovation patents are being used to obtain a form of quick protection for higher-level inventions while a standard patent is being pursued, rather than as the system was designed.
Neverthesless, at this stage it appears that the objectives of the innovation patent are generally being met, and public awareness of the system appears to be reasonable.