Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers has again provided expert content for the 2025 edition of the Legal 500 Country Guide to patent litigation laws and regulation in Australia.

These useful guides provide answers to some of the most common questions that clients and patent owners have. Our legal experts are all highly experienced specialist IP litigators in Australia, and we are pleased to share our expertise with clients and the broader IP community.

Practical, actionable insights are set out in a series of 34 questions in a Q&A structure. A selection of these questions are provided below, they range from individual case parameters to questions on the broader regional litigation outlook:

• What is the typical timeline and form of first instance patent litigation proceedings?
• Can interim and final decisions in patent cases be appealed?
• Which acts constitute direct patent infringement?
• Do the concepts of indirect patent infringement or contributory infringement exist? If, so what are the elements of such forms of infringement?
• How is the scope of protection of patent claims construed?
• What are the key defences to patent infringement?
• What are the key grounds of patent invalidity?
• How is prior art considered in the context of an invalidity action?
• Can a patentee seek to amend a patent that is in the midst of patent litigation?
• Is some form of patent term extension available?
• How are technical matters considered in patent litigation proceedings?
• Is some form of discovery/disclosure and/or court-mandated evidence seizure/protection (e.g. saisie-contrefaçon) available, either before the commencement of or during patent litigation proceedings?
• Are there procedures available which would assist a patentee to determine infringement of a process patent?
• Are there established mechanisms to protect confidential information required to be disclosed/exchanged in the course of patent litigation (e.g. confidentiality clubs)?
• Is there a system of post-grant opposition proceedings? If so, how does this system interact with the patent litigation system?
• To what extent are decisions from other fora/jurisdictions relevant or influential, and if so, are there any particularly influential fora/jurisdictions?

Need the answers?

To find the answers to these questions and more, please go to the Legal 500 Australian Patent Litigation guide.

If you have further questions or would like practical, commercially focused advice and assistance, please reach out to our award-winning team.