Rules of Engagement

Brought on in part by the Sobstad/North/Genesis/Quantum patent lawsuits, the stakes over who owns what are of major import. The folks from AJ Park share a look at this world of patents. Enjoy.

Australia II made its mark in yachting history by winning the America’s Cup in September 1983. This win is in no small part attributable to Ben Lexcen who created the innovative design of the winged keel which was then a fairly rudimentary predecessor to the designs still used in most high performance yachts. The security and secrecy and rumoured industrial espionage undertaken during the America’s Cup in 1983 of Australia II may have been completely unnecessary. Ben had sought patent protection for the keel in the Netherlands, UK, France, Italy, Sweden and Australia as far back as 5 February 1982. One of the consequences of seeking patent protection is that eventual publication by the patent office will occur. Indeed the Lexcen patents were published in full glory as early August '83 but even before then , limited information on the nature of the patent would have been available. The information which competitors were so desperate to get their hands on would have been easily discoverable by conducting a patent search. The drawing forming part of the Lexcen patents clearly illustrates the nature of the keel. Patent searching is now even more convenient to conduct as the records of most patent offices are now searchable on-line. The full Lexcen patent can be seen here.

The team at AJ Park who are specialists in intellectual property law are going to be providing us with a regular patent roundup and the first of their list is shown here. This one is predominantly in respect of recently filed New Zealand patents but the next list will be much more international. AJ Park are New Zealand's largest intellectual property law firm and take care of the search, obtaining, licensing and enforcing of patents and trade marks worldwide.