IP Australia, the intellectual property office of Australia, has issued a number of news announcements in February, 2010, relating to various IP matters. The general news page (entitled "What’s new," available HERE), is routinely updated to provide updates to patent practitioners and those generally interested in IP matters before that office. The first news announcement this month was on February 1st, providing a link to the detailed response from Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) regarding an inquiry to report on the enforcement of plant breeder’s rights in Australia. On February 8th, IP Australia reported that the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research launched "Commercialisation Australia," which is a "new initiative to assist researchers, entrepreneurs and innovative companies to convert ideas into successful commercial ventures," with "[u]p to $50,000 will be available to firms to access specialist business advice and services including intellectual property management." On February 9th, an update regarding Australia’s Peer-to-Patent pilot project was issued, noting that since its launch in December, the reviewer community provided 27 prior art references and 57 comments relating to Australian patent prosecution. On February 12th, IP Australia announced a new survey (available online or by phone) with the goal of creating "a user focused website which is easy to use and makes finding information simple." Any feedback provided to IP Australia will be confidential, so if you are interested in completing the survey, please click HERE (managed by SurveyMonkey).