Intellectual Property Protection
Intellectual Property (IP) is the application of the mind to develop something new or original; it is the property of one’s intellect. Intellectual Property rights are obtained either by registering the intellectual property or, where appropriate, is granted automatically. The Intellectual Property Law enables people to be granted the proper recognition and financial gain for what they create or invent and allows for innovation and inventiveness to be encouraged and supported. It is vital that engineers and other relevant parties are aware and educated about Intellectual Property law to enable them to fully exploit the system and be adequately rewarded for their efforts and creations.
What criteria must be met to make something registerable?
- Trademark registration merely requires that the mark be distinctive and successfully identify the product or service's source (i.e. the company).
- Patents must be novel (new) and inventive (non-obvious) to be registerable patent matters.
- Copyrights are non-registerable and therefore granted automatically in Australia, provided the copyrighted work is not a blatant copy of another copyright- protected material
What protection is afforded IP rights?
IP Australia is the Australian Government agency that administers IP rights and legislation relating to patents, trademarks, designs, and plant breeder’s rights. Obtaining rights in IP grants the owner the sole entitlement to exploit their IP and defend it against unauthorised use.
What is involved in the process of registering different types of IP?
Once the type of Intellectual Property you want to protect is identified, the following steps should be taken to ensure the appropriate protection is obtained.
- Conduct an initial patentability search (www.ipaustralia.gov.au).
- Draft and file a patent application with IP Australia.
- The patent application gets examined, and either an objection to granting of the patent is received, or the patent is granted.
- In the case of an objection to the grant, the applicant will get the chance to respond to the objection as raised by the examiner regarding the patent application.
- The total duration of protection that is granted for a patent is 20 years, provided the renewals are kept up to date. Renewals for the patent are due annually and include a renewal fee.
- Provided that the patent remains registered and hasn’t lapsed (not renewed), the owner is entitled to exploit it, including providing licenses to third parties to authorise them to use the patent in return for some reward.
- Patent owners must protect their rights against unauthorised use (infringement). If a third party is infringing the patent rights, then intellectual property litigation can be commenced, whereby if successful, the infringing party is liable to reimburse the owner, for example, by financial compensation.
"He who receives an idea from me receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."
The Right Tools for the job/ The Right Products for the application
Picture an overland pipeline in a mountainous tropical region, running over 16km and a 150m maximum elevation change. The pre-2000 solution was a rubberlined welded steel and bolted pipeline. Fast forward to the 2020s, and this pipeline needs to be replaced.
With so many competing products and services available, it is sometimes easy to miss something that truly makes your life/project easier. Be it having the right technology stack to provide your customers with the best outcome or utilising products that change the game.
The solution developed was SoluForce High-Pressure Flexible Composite Pipe Systems. SoluForce was in its infancy in 2000, but its products have come of age and provide a flexible pipeline system at relatively high pressures and easy installation.
SoluForce has a proven track record over the past 20 years in the Oil and Gas Space, and more recently, it has made inroads into the Mining and Minerals.
We have had to opportunity to be involved in a couple of such projects:
• 2.5km slurry pipeline with a 160m static head.
• 17km Acidic Process Water Return pipeline and 17km Tailing pipeline with 113m total lift, including an intermediate elevation at 150m above the pumps.
These applications are pumped at anything up to 120bar at the pump discharge without the need for any intermediate booster stations.
We found the benefits of the SoluForce Products are:
- High operating pressures at elevated temperatures (when compared with standard HDPE pipe). Depending on the product/size, this starts at 36Bar @ 85 deg C, ranging up to 450 bar at 105 degC
- Durable and corrosion free (HDPE inner and outer, minimal thermal expansion or stretch under axial loads)
- Fast installation (400m rolls) (a range of end connection types depending on client requirements)
- Smooth non-stick HDPE Liner (Darcy Weisbach surface roughness (e) 0.0015mm)
- Reusable
- Maintenance Free
- Up to 50-year design life
We recommend SoluForce products for Overland pipelines, including concentrate or tailing transport, acidic or problematic process water transfer and dewatering applications, and underground rising mains, particularly those with low pH due to high sulphide ores.
“Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems."