October 20198 IP ­ POWERING THE FUTURE BY ROBERT BOLLARD, CIO AND GENERAL MANAGER INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP, IP AUSTRALIAIntangible assets including intellectual property (IP) are the new fuel of the global economy. In my lifetime alone (since 1975), intangible assets have gone from 17 per cent of the S&P 500's assets to 84 per cent today. This isn't surprising considering we live in a world where the global intangible value surpassed US$50 trillion for the first time in history last year.As the value of intangible assets continue to rise, so does IP Australia's role in protecting Australian businesses and innovators, both domestically and internationally.One of the ways we help Australian businesses is through innovation. We're proud to be one of the first fully digital federal government service delivery agencies. We are also aware of the speed of change for customers and we are determined to keep pace. Australian businesses and innovators should always have the tools to protect their IP. We're passionate about delivering capabilities that support our goal of achieving a world-leading IP system which contributes to Australia's prosperity.IP Australia's purpose is to ensure Australians benefit from great ideas. It's our goal to support this through innovation and delivering world leading digital IP services.Our innovation leads directly to our value-add services. `Smart Trade Mark' The `Smart Trade Mark' initiative is exploring concepts relating to better digitally enabling trade marks. We recently trialled blockchain technology to provide an immutable (an object whose state cannot be modified after it is created) record of supply. Using blockchain in a multi technology platform we looked at how trade marks could be used to digitally record supply chain events contributing to provenance. To prove this concept was viable we piloted our platform with two industry leading local producers.With the worldwide sales of counterfeit goods exceeding US$1.5 trillion per year, the `Smart Trade Mark' concept is a project we will continue to explore. The potential of `Smart Trade Mark' could allow our customers to use their trade mark certification to validate their products, whether that is in Australia, at any stage during the supply chain (in Australia or overseas) or in an online store. However, these are just early concepts for `Smart IP Rights' and its use will most likely evolve over time as the concepts begin to mature. As digital marketplaces continue to rise in popularity, we see this initiative becoming more significant.Clean sweeping the State Digital iAwards, (taking out three awards) this capability helps IP Australia provide a platform for services that we may deliver in the future. With this project we are currently looking for partners to help develop our connected services specifically where IP rights are being used online.TM AssistKeeping with the theme of helping Australian businesses and innovators, last year we introduced Trade Mark Assist. This tool makes it easier for everyone, from individual innovators to businesses, to better apply for a trade mark and secure their brand name.Trade Mark Assist helps users check whether their proposed trade mark complies with relevant requirements and is a strong candidate for registration. It also helps them identify relevant goods or services classes in which IN MY V EW
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