Vehicle Monitoring Systems Pty Ltd v SARB Management Group Pty Ltd

Vehicle Monitoring Systems Pty Ltd sought leave to appeal from a decision of the Federal Court in which it was held that Vehicle Monitoring Systems was not entitled to the grant of a patent for a vehicle detection system. SARB Management Group Pty Ltd opposed the application. The dispute came before the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, which was required to decide whether Vehicle Monitoring Systems was entitled to the grant of a patent. The Court was also required to decide whether the managing director of Vehicle Monitoring Systems was a joint inventor of the invention claimed in the patent application, and what the effect of that was on entitlement to the grant of a patent. The Court found that Vehicle Monitoring Systems was not entitled to the grant of a patent. The Court found that the invention claimed in the patent application was not novel over the prior art, and that Vehicle Monitoring Systems had not established that the managing director was a joint inventor. The Court found that the managing director’s involvement in the development of the invention was not sufficient to make him a joint inventor, as he had not contributed to the “inventive concept” of the invention. The Court granted leave to appeal, but dismissed the appeal and ordered Vehicle Monitoring Systems to pay the costs of the application and the appeal.