CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
Patents AU Pty Ltd, as a private incorporated Australian and New Zealand Patent Attorney, is bound by the Code of Conduct for Trans-Tasman Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 2018. In conducting our business, we act according to the following order of priority:
- In accordance with the law
- In the best interests of our clients
- In the public interest
- In the interests of the patent attorney profession as a whole.
We do not use or disclose, or allow to be used or disclosed, confidential information obtained from or on behalf of a client, a former client or a prospective client without the informed consent of the client.
We do not prefer the interests of one client over the interests of another client, or act for two or more clients in the same matter relating to a proceeding before a court, tribunal, adjudicative body or intellectual property office where we know the clients’ interests are or are likely to be adverse.
We do not act for a client in a matter knowing that the client’s interests are adverse to the interests of a former client unless we do not hold confidential information relevant to the matter obtained from or on behalf of the former client
We take all reasonable steps to avoid creation of a situation giving rise to an actual conflict or the reasonable possibility of a conflict between the respective interests of two clients. Upon becoming aware of a situation giving rise to an actual conflict or the reasonable possibility of a conflict, we, as soon as practicable, take all reasonable steps to resolve the actual conflict or the reasonable possibility of a conflict.
As a matter of practicality, we are not able to review the content of each patent specification not drafted by us at the time of filing to ascertain a possible conflict with the subject matter of every other patent specification which we have filed. Accordingly, at the time of filing we may only identify a conflict of interest if we are currently acting against the applicant in adversarial proceedings. During examination, we may identify a conflict of interest based on citations raised by the examiner.