Regulator Performance Omnibus Bill 2022

Overview

The Australian Government has released the draft Regulator Performance Omnibus Bill, and is calling for submissions to ensure it is informed by business and community expectations of regulators.  

The Bill updates or removes outdated administrative provisions across Commonwealth legislation that impose unnecessary regulatory burden, and prevent regulators from engaging with business and supporting compliance in a modern and flexible way. 

The Bill includes amendments to the Trade Marks Act 1995, Patents Act 1990 and Olympic Insignia Protection Act 1987.
  
The proposed changes specific to IP (outlined in Schedule 5, Part 4 of the Bill) relate to: 

• trade marks containing Olympic insignia 
• alignment of renewal grace periods for trade marks pending after 10 years 
• revocation of trade mark registration, where documents are overlooked at the start of the opposition process 
• restoration of trade marks to the Register, where an extension of time is obtained to file evidence in an opposition to non-use 
• the Official Journal for trade marks 
• repeal of transitional provisions from the Patents Act 

 
The exposure draft legislation and draft explanatory memorandum are available on Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet’s website. (Amendments related to intellectual property can be found on pages 39-46 of the Bill and pages 43-51 of the Explanatory memoranda.) 
 
To contribute to the formal consultation process, please make submissions using the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet’s website. We would appreciate if you could provide a copy of any submissions to consultation@ipaustralia.gov.au.