Changes to the Copyright Act 1968 and Patents Act 1990 form a significant and complex part of the Bill to implement the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement. But the agreement does leave some room for Australia to decide the shape of its own law, so implementation inevitably involves making substantive policy choices.

In this guide Jacob Varghese provides a section-by-section discussion of the copyright and patent provisions of the Bill. He discusses the changes the Agreement requires and also the means which are proposed to meet these requirements. He also points out those areas where the Bill might go further than required or fail to take advantage of exceptions allowed.