Parmar ParmjeetPATENTS (ADVANCEMENT PATENTS) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingDr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): I move That the Patents (Advancement Patents) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill.It is with immense pleasure I take this call in the first reading of my member's bill the Patents (Advancement Patents) Amendment Bill. The timing for my bill to be drawn from the ballot was perfect. It was in the month of April. It is in the month of April that we observe the World Intellectual Property Day. My bill is a substantial bill to address a very important gap in our intellectual property protection legislation. I'm really passionate about supporting more and more research and development and more and more technological advancement and this bill is a product of my passion to do more for small to medium enterprises and more technological advancement. This bill is to allow incremental advancements that may not qualify for a standard patent to have intellectual property protection rights.Protecting ideas and advancements helps New Zealand innovators and businesses and it will help them stand out on the international stage as well—not only locally. This bill is to introduce a second-tier patent system that is accessible and is quicker and this is as I said for small to medium enterprises making incremental advancements that may or may not qualify for a standard patent under the standard patent Act—that is the Patents Act 2013. With the introduction of a second-tier patent system the owners of the advancement patent will be able to enjoy an innovation monopoly in the same way the owners of a standard patent can. If it is a product to be commercialised they can go out and commercialise it with reduced risk of it being copied or stolen. With this ability New Zealanders will continue to benefit from the creativity and innovation that we have in our country.New Zealand is known to be a net importer of technology. We have heard this several times. Yes New Zealand is a net importer of technology but I want to challenge our views and I want to say that we don't want to be complacent. We don't want to accept the status quo. If you go out and see innovators and businesses we know that they are already doing really well not just locally but internationally too and they are really eager and ready to lead us on the international stage. But what we have to do is move along with these innovators and businesses. We have to provide the tools and means for these small businesses and researchers to do well so that we can shift our status of being a net importer of technology to actually becoming a trader of technology.This won't happen without the help that is needed for small to medium enterprises and protection of intellectual property is a very important tool for that. People that are stuck in that mentality I say to those people they should come along and visit businesses that I see—research institutes universities and businesses doing a great job. They are pushing New Zealand forward on the innovation front. It's about time we put our money where our mouth is and help to provide the means New Zealand needs for the future of our technological development.I'm really fortunate to be surrounded by people that are always pushing ideas forward. But with a large number of people the necessity of innovation is taken for granted. People don't realise how time-consuming it is to come up with an idea an innovation and then take it to the next level. It's not only that taking it to the next level but it's also about securing markets in a successful manner and that is where the idea of intellectual property protection comes in because you don't want to see someone else stealing your idea. As I said simply innovating isn't enough. Protecting that innovation is essential and that is why my bill is important.Many innovations that would have qualified only for a second-tier patent in other countries were able to get a standard patent here in New Zealand under the old patents Act—that is the Patents Act 1953. But as we know we reviewed our Patents Act 1953 and now we have a new Patents Act—that is the Patents Act 2013. That was a good thing to do bringing the level of invention in line with the international norm. But with that what has happened is that some of the incremental advancements will have nothing to fall back on when it comes to protecting those advancements. So there is a gap and this gap needs to be filled. This is to allow small to medium enterprises to enjoy intellectual property rights. I believe that with increased investment in research and development an increase in economic activity would follow.According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation there are 59 countries around the world that already have a second-tier patent system—yes I repeat: 59 countries around the world already have some form of second-tier patent system. So with so many countries already having a second-tier patent system it was my job while creating this bill to look at what worked and what didn't work in other countries. So I looked at some successful models in European countries and I also very keenly looked at the Australian innovation patent system for reasons of it being in the media. We saw that in Australia the Government decided to abolish it but then they decided not to. So that was a big push from small to medium enterprises in Australia.For someone to do a direct comparison of my bill with the Australian innovation system will be completely wrong because I want to highlight this: there is no international consistency when it comes to second-tier patent systems. We can adopt a second-tier patent system according to our conditions according to our uniqueness.So as I said I learnt from other countries what worked and what didn't work so it was a great position I was in. Just to give some examples in Australia we know that when it underwent the review we saw the biggest criticism of the Australian innovation patent system was that it doesn't provide certainty. Uncertainty was the big issue there because examination is optional in the innovation patent system in Australia. But as members will see in my bill examination is required at three years and if it is not examined the patent going to lapse. This also addresses another concern of other companies coming and filing patents to block innovation. That has been already addressed in my legislation.The second thing that was criticised in the Australian innovation patent system was that it was difficult to know if it was already a certified patent. In my proposal I have made it very very clear that it is going to be called a provisional advancement patent until it is certified and will be called an advancement patent only after certification. But as I said there are some things that are different from other countries as we are a small country with a smaller economy and our businesses our researchers might take longer to secure funding to commercialise their prototype. So I have allowed a slightly longer time than other countries which is 10 years for my advancement patent. It's really important to note that we are a small country we have small businesses and we need to do more for our small businesses so that they can thrive.To summarise this bill will help innovation. This bill will help research and development. Most importantly this bill will help start-up companies. This bill will help companies that are going through that very important phase that growth phase. This is about supporting the ideas that start from garages the ideas that start up on kitchen benches. Our businesses—96 percent of our businesses are small to medium enterprises. To allow innovation we should not fear competition. I repeat: to allow innovation we should not fear competition.I'm really hopeful that the Government will take a bipartisan approach on this bill and support this bill to go to the select committee to allow the sector to have their say. This is not only about this bill; this is also about raising awareness about intellectual property protection rights in New Zealand. So I'm really hopeful that the Government if they wish to support small to medium enterprises if they want to increase research and development—this is a perfect opportunity. I urge Government members to support this very important bill. I support this bill and commend this bill to the House. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker.