Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Relying on changes to civil remedies alone is not the whole answer to this kind of business risk. Apart from the cost of legal proceedings, this kind of event can cause significant damage to a business. So focusing on prevention is still going to be a really important part of the response.

Even in relation to patent infringement, the government is not contemplating introducing criminal offences. This is because of the complexity of determining patent infringement and validity. In addition, the complex issue of whether the patent has been infringed must be decided beyond reasonable doubt in the criminal system rather than in a civil test of the balance of probabilities. Finally, the threat of criminal prosecution for patent infringement may deter further innovation. So all of these issues become a complex part of what is a very challenging problem but one to which businesses are right to turn their minds. (Time expired)