Shanks Katrina: Patents Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeShanks Katrina: Patents Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 05 May 2009. Volume:654;Page:2889. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KATRINA SHANKS (National):It is my pleasure to stand today in support of the Patents Bill. The bill is to protect innovative creative people and their “innovations that are new involve an inventive step … and are useful.” It is only fair that the inventors and creators who have invested time and money on a product that will be useful and have a commercial value have modern patent legislation that will protect their investment.Protection of patents will allow an environment that encourages inventors to take a risk. There will be some protections for their investment that will allow them to have a commercial return. This legislation is a good example of modernising legislation for our current times. New Zealand’s future growth will involve the commercialisation of our ideas and our intellectual property. New Zealanders have a number eight wire mentality: if we can see a better way of doing something or have a great idea then we just get on and do it.A number of companies in New Zealand have commercialised great ideas and are cutting edge. I will mention just two or three off the top of my head: Spidertracks does global positioning systems (GPSs) and is cutting edge in its field globally; Metalform has created the Ezi-Riser wheelchair which is the first wheelchair in the world that can tilt; and Martin Jetpack is an innovation from the “jetpack man”—and the list goes on. It is important that we have good strong patent law that is relevant to our environment.I will talk about one of those businesses which without good strong patent legislation would never have got as far as it has. It is very important for businesses to know that if they have an idea—a good idea—and if they create something nobody else will be able to copy it at least for 20 years. Those businesses can have the benefits of investing their time in an idea. Once they have that idea and build it up if it looks like a good goer then they can commercialise that idea. They can go the extra step find some global markets and find a manufacturer to produce the idea and get a commercial product for the good of growth in our economy. But without the ability for businesses to patent that idea they would never take it so far. Why would they put tens of thousands—hundreds of thousands—of dollars into an idea if they could not protect that idea before they went to commercialise it? That is why this legislation is so important.I will tell members why that is so with one little example: Spidertracks in Palmerston North. The company produces a GPS tracking system. Previously if a tracking system was put on to an aeroplane for example there had to be two boxes in the aeroplane: one that sent out the signal and one that received a signal to say where the aeroplane was. Both signals could not be sent at the same time; only one could be sent at a time. Spidertracks developed a box that has both the signal receiver and sender in the box. The boxes can send and receive signals at exactly the same time. This was the first time anybody has been able to create that technology in New Zealand—in fact globally. The company managed to put the technology in that one box which is the size of a cellphone. Before there had to be two boxes. The product contains a sender and a receiver in a box the size of a cellphone. The company patented the product and took it overseas and this one little cellphone-sized instrument that has the capability to receive and send signals at the same time is in something like 59 countries now.Without patenting that idea the company would have never taken it so far. That is why it is important that we have legislation that is very current for the environment we are in—especially when an invention is sold into countries where it is easy to copy and then be mass produced. Because we are such a small player it is hard for us to enter some of these markets and it is easier for other countries. That is why this legislation is so important for New Zealand and for New Zealand’s growth.At the moment the way the New Zealand patent system works is that a patent is a right granted by the Commissioner of Patents after examination by the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand to stop others from using an invention for 20 years. The system was established under the Patents Act 1953 which was based on the UK Patents Act 1949. Britain replaced its statute in 1977 but New Zealand has made no substantial change to the legislation since 1953. For over 50 years we have had the same legislation around patents. As New Zealand has grown and we have become more global it has become more and more important that we get this legislation up to date.Patents giving monopolies for new inventions were first granted by Queen Elizabeth I to encourage the establishment of new industry. In 1623 Parliament passed the Statute of Monopolies which restricted monopolies already granted and prohibited the granting of new monopolies except for the true and first inventors of a manner of a new manufacture that was not being used by others.So it is very important that this legislation is being modernised and under the sponsorship of the Minister of Commerce the Hon Simon Power the bill is here today having its first reading. It will be interesting when the bill goes to a select committee and we can listen to the submissions on it. The bill will affect many many entities enterprises and inventors out there so it is important that we get it absolutely right.Because a patent provides a form of monopoly right it is really important that we get the bill right because when there is a monopoly costs can go up in order for the consumer to receive a product because no one else in the field delivers exactly the same product. In order to minimise these costs and to ensure that the patent system provides a net benefit to society patents should be granted only for genuine innovations—innovations that are new involve an inventive step and are useful. We do not want to ensure that anybody can get a patent for an idea that will not be useful and that is not totally inventive. That is not what this legislation is about and it is not what a patent is about. A patent should be granted for something that will be inventive is new and will be useful for people.In New Zealand a patent may be granted for an invention that involves a manner of new manufacture and a patent entitles the patent owner the right to exclude others from making using or assigning the patented invention during the term of the patent. The patent owner must make public a complete description of the invention so that once the patent expires others will be able to use it. It is interesting to know that someone cannot just keep a patent for 20 years. A fee must be paid in order to renew the patent after every 3 4 7 and 13 years otherwise other people will be able to use it. So it is important that inventors keep current with the legislation and the changes to it and know how often they will have to pay those fees in order to protect their investment.We need this bill because intellectual property has been touted as the foundation for New Zealand’s future but we have been hamstrung by old legislation—the Patents Act 1953. It is important that we protect our intellectual property because if we are talking about the growth of New Zealand our ability to bounce back after the horrible recession and being globally competitive it is very important that we protect our intellectual property. We are distant from our markets and innovation is the one area in New Zealand where we can really get ahead in order to bounce back from the recession.It is important that we get this legislation right and that anybody out there listening who has an interest in this area—an inventor or someone who commercialises ideas—looks at this bill when it goes before a select committee. I ask such people to please put in a submission and to please come and present it because it is the New Zealanders who present to select committees who let us know what is happening in their environment and whether we have got the legislation right or wrong. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. I commend this bill to the House.